CDC Recommends Pfizer or Moderna Vaccines Instead of J.&J

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended that Covid vaccines other than Johnson & Johnson should be preferred after consultants showed growing evidence that the company’s vaccines could now trigger a rare blood clot disorder that has been linked to dozens of cases and at least nine deaths. last year in the United States.

The decision accepted the advice of an expert panel that effectively discouraged vaccine providers and adults from using Johnson & Johnson’s injection. New data showed a higher risk than previously known for a blood clotting condition. The risk was highest among women ages 30 to 49 and is estimated at 1 in 100,000 who receive the company’s vaccine.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is not being removed from the market. The agency said it will remain an option for people “unnecessary or unwilling” to take the more popular shots from Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech.

The recommendation is the latest pushback for a vaccine that has largely fallen out of favor in the United States. The company’s vaccine did not live up to its early promise as a traditional, single, finished format that would be easy to administer in more isolated or rural communities and among people who are timid about taking two doses.

about 16 million people In the United States, 73 million fully immunized with Moderna’s vaccine and 114 million with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as primary immunization. Only 1.6 percent of Americans who received a booster chose Johnson & Johnson.

Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration updated guide published He spoke about the risks of blood clotting disorders associated with Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, but reiterated that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Dozens of countries have authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and are using it as part of their vaccination campaigns. But while it remains in high demand in some parts of the world, it has lost popularity in many countries due to safety concerns and its relatively low effectiveness against Covid.

Some governments have taken action to place restrictions on Johnson & Johnson’s shot because of the risk of blood clots. Finland, Denmark and Slovenia stopped using it, and many other countries rank it lower for use than vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Some countries have also recommended that doctors counsel women under 50 about potential risk.

The CDC’s recommendation comes amid an increase in cases of the Delta variant and the new Omicron-driven virus, which has already become dominant in some countries and is spreading rapidly in the UK and the United States.

Several laboratory experiments show that a single dose of Johnson & Johnson needles can provide little defense against Omicron infection. Company said last month He said he tested blood samples from clinical trial participants who were shot as a booster to see how the vaccine-induced antibodies acted against Omicron.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Vaccine Practices Advisory Committee, CDC officials into detail About the coagulation-related syndrome identified in 54 people vaccinated before the end of August in the United States. Overall, the rate of the condition was 3.8 cases per million people given the vaccine.

People who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine months ago are not considered to be at risk for coagulation, as the onset of symptoms typically occurs about nine days after vaccination in diagnosed cases.

An increased risk for the condition has also been associated with the shot from AstraZeneca, which is not authorized in the United States. Not affiliated with Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.

A panelist, a pediatrician at Ohio State University, Dr. Pablo Sanchez said he is turning families away from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Evidence is increasingly showing that one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine provides far less protection against infection than other vaccines. federal health officials authorized in October boosters for people who received a single shot of the company’s vaccine at least two months ago. By allowing a “mix and match” approach, they let people get a second shot of Pfizer or Moderna.

So far, most Johnson & Johnson recipients who have received a booster have turned to other vaccines, and no one who has been initially vaccinated with other vaccines has chosen Johnson & Johnson as booster.

Despite their recommendations, a number of panelists said it was important to have the Johnson & Johnson vaccine available as an option.

An assistant professor of clinical biomedical science at Florida Atlantic University, Dr. “Still, it’s really important that we don’t completely eliminate this vaccine,” said Jason Goldman.

Johnson & Johnson executive Dr. Penny Heaton aforementioned The vaccine is making a “significant difference” in the response to the pandemic. “We rely on the positive benefit-risk profile of our vaccine. Today it is saving lives here in the US and on every continent of the world,” he said.

In April, shortly after Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine became available in the United States, federal officials briefly discontinued use of the vaccine over concerns about the risk of blood clots. The lawsuits continued to pile up.

Of the 54 Johnson & Johnson vaccinees that contracted the disease before the end of August, 36 were admitted to the intensive care unit, with the longest hospital stay of 132 days. Eight of them died. The ninth person has died since September.

A CDC official, Dr. Dr. “We were very impressed to review these cases at how quickly the condition deteriorated and resulted in death,” said Isaac See.

The ages of the deceased ranged from 28 to 62. Seven of them were women and they were all white. Obesity was the most common underlying medical condition. He said two of the dead had no known medical problems.

He added that the rate at which the situation is normally expected in the general population is unknown.

Dr. See said additional cases have been identified since previous CDC meetings due to delays in reporting and delays in identifying and approving vaccine-related diseases.

On Thursday, CDC officials also reported: side effects Among children ages 5-11 who have had the Pfizer vaccine in the past few weeks. With 7.1 million doses administered, the CDC has confirmed eight cases of myocarditis or swelling of the heart muscle, and an additional case is under investigation. An additional five cases follow.

it was previously reported Men aged 16 to 29 years are at high risk of developing myocarditis. About 11 out of every 100,000 people developed the condition within a few days of being fully vaccinated. On balance, the CDC estimated that for boys aged 12-17, vaccines would cause an estimated 70 cases of myocarditis, but prevent 5,700 infections, 215 hospitalizations and two deaths. However, most soon recovered.

Five out of six cases in younger children with known outcomes were relieved of myocarditis symptoms. The eight confirmed cases were split equally between men and women.

an august study found It turns out that children younger than 16 years old infected with Covid-19 are 37 times more likely to develop myocarditis than other children. This study was completed before children younger than 12 years old started getting vaccinated.

In the summer, the FDA warns Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine It can also lead to an increased risk of a rare neurological condition known as Guillain-Barré syndrome, another setback.

a CDC presentation showed that despite coagulation concerns, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented thousands of Covid hospitalizations in the US compared to three to a dozen cases of coagulation syndrome, depending on age group. Those over the age of 64 avoided most hospital stays. Like those vaccinated with other vaccines, thousands have avoided hospitalization, the agency said.

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