Johnson & Johnson vaccine halted over blood clots

The Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Covid jab rollout will be temporarily stopped in the US, South Africa, and the European Union over reports of rate blood clotting. 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that 6 cases in more than 6.8 million doses of vaccine have been detected. The company has stopped vaccine distribution in the EU. 

The FDA said it was recommending the temporary pause “out of an abundance of caution”. It said that one patient died from blood clotting complications, and another is in a critical condition.

According to the international news source, all six cases were women aged between 18 and 48. Symptoms were appearing 6 to 13 days after vaccination. 

All federal sites in the US have stopped using the vaccine until further investigations are finished. 

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Johnson & Johnson is a US health care company. But the vaccine was developed mainly by its pharmaceutical branch in Belgium. The vaccine was given as a single shot and can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures. It was approved in a few countries.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top Covid adviser, said it was too early to comment on whether it could have its authorization revoked.

The World Health Organization told Reuters it was monitoring the situation and waiting for reports from the US and European regulators.