CDC investigates death of Virginia woman, state halts Johnson & Johnson vaccine
(The Center Square) – The Center for Disease Control and Prevention launched an investigation following the death of one Virginia woman, who may have suffered blood clots related to complications from receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
To date, there have been six reports of women between the ages of 18 and 48 who developed a rare and severe blood clots after taking the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. More than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, which makes the blood clots an extremely rare side effect.
The Virginian, who was 46 years old, developed a headache that progressively became worse and checked into the hospital with a headache, dry heaving and weakness on her left side. She received the vaccine on March 6, went to the hospital on March 17 and was brain dead on March 18.
According to the CDC, complications for each woman developed within six and 13 days of receiving the vaccine. The CDC has encouraged any person who received this vaccine and develops a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks of the vaccine to contact a healthcare provider.
“CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Wednesday to further review these cases and assess their potential significance,” the agency said in a joint statement with the Food and Drug Administration.
“FDA will review that analysis as it also investigates these cases,” the statement read. “Until that process is complete, we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution. This is important, in part, to ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan for proper recognition and management due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot.”
Virginia has temporarily stopped administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pending the investigation.
“This pause is reassuring in that it demonstrates that the systems that are in place to monitor vaccine safety are working,” the Virginia Department of Health said in a statement. “We look forward to a thorough review by federal health officials. Meantime, we will continue Virginia’s vaccine rollout at this time with the other two authorized vaccines, developed by Pfizer and Moderna.”
There have not been any similar reports related to the other vaccines.
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