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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 refuse to get the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, mentioning security concerns.

The firm said 60 cases of a uncommon but major blood-clotting disorder have actually been identified, including 9 deaths, out of about 18 million doses administered. The action happens five 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. stated that weighing the dangers of Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine against the advantages, it had decided to limit its usage to adults who can not access Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccines, or for whom those shots are not “scientifically appropriate.” One example would be individuals who experienced an extreme allergy to the other 2 vaccines, the company stated.

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

Johnson & & Johnson was eclipsed long ago by Pfizer and Moderna in the country’s vaccination project; federal officials have said the mRNA vaccines produced by those business are both more secure and more reliable. In a declaration, Johnson & & Johnson said the F.D.A.’s action showed the already-known risk of the side impact, not new information on the rate at which it takes place. In an indication of the firm’s own flagging interest in its vaccine, it has stopped providing sales outlooks for the shot to financiers.

Reports that the vaccine can trigger a condition referred to as apoplexy with thrombocytopenia syndrome have bedeviled it from early on. In April 2021, not long after it was authorized for emergency situation usage, federal authorities paused distribution of the vaccine for a safety assessment. Regulators lifted the time out 10 days later on however 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. Paired with a host of making troubles in the United States, some professionals stated, the company’s judgment showed that the federal government had all but crossed out Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine.

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

The variety of deaths credited to the condition set off by the Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine does not appear to have risen much, if at all. However there have been far less, 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 six cases and close to one death associated to the blood-clotting disorder for every 2 million shots of Johnson & & Johnson vaccine administered in the United States.

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

Trying to cast the tight 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.”