J&J Vaccine Gets More Negative Attention

CBS News: Study Shows Vaccines Carry Much Lower Risk Of Blood Clots Than COVID-19 
A study by researchers at Oxford University in England suggests the risks of experiencing dangerous, rare blood clots in the brain are far higher in those who catch the coronavirus than in those who get either the AstraZeneca vaccine, or the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna in the U.S. Another finding of the research, which was disputed by Pfizer and called "confusing" by the top infectious disease expert in the U.S., was that the number of people who experience clots after getting the vaccines made by the American companies appears very similar to the number who get the rare condition after a shot of the AstraZeneca drug, which was developed in conjunction with Oxford's vaccine institute. (Reals and Berriman, 4/16)

CIDRAP: Study: COVID Much More Likely Than Vaccines To Cause Blood Clots
COVID-19—the actual disease—poses 8 to 10 times the threat of blood clots in the brain than do coronavirus vaccines, a large, non–peer-reviewed study led by University of Oxford researchers finds. The study, published today on the preprint server OSF, involved an electronic health records network of 81 million patients at 59 healthcare systems, mainly in the United States. (Van Beusekom, 4/15 )

Fox News: Seventh Clot Case Involving Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Revealed
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) committee learned Wednesday of a seventh woman who developed a rare and severe type of blood clot after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, and an additional incident involving a man which occurred during a clinical trial but could not be linked to the jab at the time. The seventh case brought to the committee's attention did not occur in the brain, as the other six did, sparking further questions about what evidence the committee needs to consider. The other incident that occurred during the clinical trial involved a 25-year-old male. Up until this point, the six cases, out of the more than 7.2 million shots administered, had all been identified in women and occurred within one to three weeks of vaccination. (Hein, 4/15)

New York Post: Man Partially Paralyzed, Unable To Talk After J&J Vaccine
A Mississippi man who experienced a blood clot after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, has been left paralyzed on one side of his body and unable to talk, his family said. Brad Malagarie, 43, of St. Martin, suffered a stroke soon after stepping out last week to get the one-dose shot, news station WLOX reported. (Salo, 4/15)

In other updates on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine —

NPR: J&J Vaccine Pause Creates 'Perfect Storm' For Misinformation
CNN. ABC News. The New York Times. Fox News.Those are the publishers of four of the five most popular Facebook posts of articles about the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this week. They're ranked 2 to 5 in total interactions, according to data from the tracking tool CrowdTangle. The No. 1 posting, however, isn't from a news organization. Or a government official. Or a public health expert. The most popular link on Facebook about the Johnson & Johnson news was shared by a conspiracy theorist and self-described "news analyst & hip-hop artist" named An0maly who thinks the pandemic is a cover for government control. (4/15)

The Hill: Johnson & Johnson Delay Prompts Criticism Of CDC Panel 
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel is coming under increased criticism for continuing a pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is keeping doses on the shelf while the pandemic rages. Many experts backed the initial pause, announced on Tuesday, when it appeared that it would only last for a few days and would give time to alert health care providers to treatment guidelines around extremely rare cases of blood clots in people receiving the J&J vaccine. (Sullivan, 4/15)

Bloomberg: J&J’s Limbo Status Crimps U.S. Vaccine Drive At A Pivotal Moment
Communities across the U.S. are suddenly revamping their vaccination campaigns to adjust to an indefinite halt in Johnson & Johnson’s doses, which has required officials to reschedule tens of thousands of appointments as they seek to reassure people that Covid-19 vaccines are safe. Health professionals are split on whether the delay should continue. On the one hand, the blood-clotting syndrome that led to the pause in J&J vaccinations is serious and can be deadly. Conversely, with J&J doses out of circulation, that means fewer people are getting immunized even as fast-spreading Covid variants are tightening their grip, and concern about the J&J shots risks expanding vaccine hesitancy. (LaVito and Rutherford, 4/16)

Axios: Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus Vaccine Pause Hurts Its Reputation 
Americans' confidence in the safety of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine took a big dip this week after the pause in its use, per new YouGov polling, even though the risk of blood clots following the shot is extremely low, if it exists at all. For the majority of people, particularly high-risk Americans, getting the J&J shot is almost certainly less dangerous than remaining vulnerable to the coronavirus. (Owens and Fernandez, 4/16)

ABC News: Prisons Postpone Vaccinations With Johnson & Johnson Shots Paused
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause, likely to last another seven to 10 days while a federal advisory committee evaluates a possible link to a rare but severe blood clotting disorder, may deal a blow to vulnerable populations -- the homebound, homeless and incarcerated among them -- because it had been easier to get those individuals one shot than two, health experts said. In addition to being a single dose, the J&J vaccine "is easier to store than the two mRNA vaccines that require freezing," said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University. "That adds to the complexity of trying to set up vaccinations in settings that are not clinical." (Shumaker, 4/16)

CNN: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine: Dr. Leana Wen Addresses Your Concerns 
The US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that they were recommending a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. The agencies cited the cases of six women between the ages of 18 and 48 who had developed a rare and severe condition called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), a brain blood clot, combined with thrombocytopenia, or low platelet counts, after their J&J vaccination. What does all of this mean for people who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine? What about those who are scheduled to receive it? (Chiu, 4/15)