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WASHINGTON– In yet another obstacle for Johnson & & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday limited its use to adults who can not or decline to get the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, pointing out security concerns.

The company stated 60 cases of a major however unusual blood-clotting condition have been identified, consisting of nine deaths, out of about 18 million doses administered. The action comes about five months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines over Johnson & & Johnson’s for booster shots.

The F.D.A. stated that weighing the threats of Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine against the advantages, it had actually decided to restrict its usage to grownups who can not access Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccines, or for whom those shots are not “medically proper.” One example would be individuals who experienced a severe allergic response to the other two vaccines, the company said.

It stated the vaccine might also be provided to adults who “would otherwise not get a Covid-19 vaccine.”

Johnson & & Johnson was eclipsed long ago by Pfizer and Moderna in the country’s vaccination campaign; federal authorities have said the mRNA vaccines produced by those companies are both much safer and more efficient. In a statement, Johnson & & Johnson said the F.D.A.’s action reflected the already-known risk of the side result, not brand-new information on the rate at which it occurs. In an indication of the company’s own flagging interest in its vaccine, it has stopped supplying sales outlooks for the shot to financiers.

Reports that the vaccine can trigger a condition referred to as apoplexy with thrombocytopenia syndrome have actually bedeviled it from early on. In April 2021, not long after it was authorized for emergency situation usage, federal authorities paused circulation of the vaccine for a security assessment. Regulators raised the pause 10 days later but included a warning to guidelines for its use.

Then, in December, the C.D.C. recommended that grownups looking for a booster shot choose Moderna or Pfizer instead of Johnson & & Johnson, citing more advantages and lower risks. Combined with a host of making troubles in the United States, some experts stated, the company’s judgment showed that the federal government had all however composed off Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine.

According to the F.D.A. statement on Thursday, federal authorities now have 60 reports of the blood-clotting disorder– or 4 times as numerous as were reported when last year’s time out in circulation was raised. In the interim, the variety of Johnson & & Johnson doses administered has a little more than doubled, while the variety of Pfizer and Moderna receivers has actually skyrocketed.

The number of deaths credited to the condition activated by the Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine does not appear to have actually increased much, if at all. But there have been far fewer, if any, thought deaths due to side effects from the mRNA vaccines, federal health officials have stated.

In its statement, the F.D.A. cited more than six cases and close to one death credited to the blood-clotting disorder for each two million shots of Johnson & & Johnson vaccine administered in the United States.

About 17 million Americans have now gotten one dosage of Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine, and another 1.5 million have gotten a booster dosage, according to the C.D.C.’s information. By contrast, more than 200 million Americans have gotten at least 2 doses of either Moderna’s or Pfizer’s vaccine.

Attempting to cast the tight brand-new limitations in a positive light, Johnson & & Johnson said: “Data continue to support a beneficial benefit-risk profile for the Johnson & & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in grownups, when compared to no vaccine.”