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WASHINGTON– In yet another problem 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, citing security issues.

The firm stated 60 cases of a severe but unusual blood-clotting disorder have been recognized, consisting of nine deaths, out of about 18 million doses 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. stated 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 “scientifically suitable.” One example would be people who experienced an extreme allergic reaction to the other two vaccines, the firm stated.

It said the vaccine might likewise 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 nation’s vaccination campaign; federal officials have said the mRNA vaccines produced by those business are both more secure and more effective. In a statement, Johnson & & Johnson said the F.D.A.’s action reflected the already-known threat of the negative effects, not new data on the rate at which it occurs. However in an indication of the company’s own flagging interest in its vaccine, it has stopped offering sales outlooks for the shot to investors.

Reports that the vaccine can set off a condition called 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 examination. Regulators raised the pause 10 days later on however included a warning to directions for its usage.

Then, in December, the C.D.C. advised that grownups seeking a booster shot choose Moderna or Pfizer instead of Johnson & & Johnson, citing more advantages and lower risks. Coupled with a host of manufacturing difficulties in the United States, some professionals said, the agency’s judgment illustrated that the federal government had all however 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 4 times as many as were reported when last year’s time out in circulation was raised. In the interim, the variety of Johnson & & Johnson doses administered has somewhat more than doubled, while the number of Pfizer and Moderna receivers has skyrocketed.

The variety of deaths attributed to the condition activated by the Johnson & & Johnson’s vaccine does not appear to have risen much, if at all. There have been far less, if any, presumed deaths due to side results from the mRNA vaccines, federal health officials have actually stated.

In its statement, the F.D.A. pointed out more than 6 cases and close to one death attributed to the blood-clotting condition for every 2 million shots of Johnson & & Johnson vaccine administered in the United States.

About 17 million Americans have actually now gotten one dosage 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 contrast, more than 200 million Americans have gotten at least 2 dosages of either Moderna’s or Pfizer’s vaccine.

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