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

The firm said 60 cases of a serious but uncommon blood-clotting disorder have actually been determined, consisting of 9 deaths, out of about 18 million dosages administered. The action happens 5 months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines over Johnson & & Johnson’s for booster shots.

The F.D.A. said that weighing the risks of Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine versus the advantages, it had chosen to limit its use to grownups who can not access Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccines, or for whom those shots are not “clinically proper.” One example would be people who experienced a severe allergic response to the other 2 vaccines, the company said.

It stated the vaccine might likewise be offered to grownups who “would otherwise not receive a Covid-19 vaccine.”

Johnson & & Johnson was eclipsed long back by Pfizer and Moderna in the nation’s vaccination project; federal authorities have stated the mRNA vaccines produced by those companies are both more secure and more reliable. In a statement, Johnson & & Johnson stated the F.D.A.’s action reflected the already-known risk of the negative effects, not brand-new data on the rate at which it takes place. But in a sign of the firm’s own flagging interest in its vaccine, it has stopped offering sales outlooks for the shot to financiers.

Reports that the vaccine can trigger a condition referred to as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome have actually bedeviled it from early on. In April 2021, not long after it was authorized for emergency situation use, federal authorities paused circulation of the vaccine for a security examination. Regulators lifted the time out 10 days later on but added a warning to instructions for its use.

In December, the C.D.C. recommended that adults looking for a booster shot choose Moderna or Pfizer instead of Johnson & & Johnson, pointing out more advantages and lower dangers. Paired with a host of making troubles in the United States, some professionals said, the company’s judgment illustrated that the federal government had all but crossed out Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine.

According to the F.D.A. statement on Thursday, federal authorities now have 60 reports of the blood-clotting condition– or four times as numerous as were reported when last year’s time out in circulation was lifted. In the interim, the number of Johnson & & Johnson doses administered has slightly more than doubled, while the variety of Pfizer and Moderna recipients has escalated.

The variety of deaths credited to the disorder triggered by the Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine does not appear to have actually increased much, if at all. There have been far fewer, if any, believed deaths due to side impacts from the mRNA vaccines, federal health authorities have stated.

In its announcement, the F.D.A. mentioned more than 6 cases and near one death credited to the blood-clotting condition for every 2 million shots of Johnson & & Johnson vaccine administered in the United States.

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

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