We clarify 4 doubts about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine 4:11
(CNN) -
When news broke that Johnson & Johnson's covid-19 vaccine could be linked to blood clots, the company responded by pointing to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines: it issued a statement to the media. which claimed that a study showed that there were also reports of blood clots with their vaccinations.
But the study doesn't show that at all, according to the lead author.
"We didn't find anyone with blood clots," said Dr. Eun-Ju Lee, associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, of her study of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
"We didn't find any of those scary things that are happening with Johnson & Johnson."
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Among the more than 7 million people who have received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, at least seven have experienced very rare blood clots in the brain.
It happened to one man during clinical trials and six women during vaccination with this injection, which has been put on hold due to concerns about blood clots.
Now, Johnson & Johnson is coming under fire for fueling fear of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines when, in fact, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is the only one licensed in the US with reports of blood clots.
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In its statement to the media, Johnson & Johnson wrote that there had been reports of blood clots from "all covid-19 vaccines."
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"That's really irresponsible," said Dr. Paul Offit, referring to the J&J statement.
Offit, a vaccine expert at the University of Pennsylvania, is a member of the US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel that reviewed emergency use authorization requests from the three manufacturers of the covid-19 vaccine. .
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Offit noted that the company's statement was especially unfortunate, given that there are still a significant number of people in the US who are hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
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"I think Paul is right," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who is a member of a vaccine advisory panel for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. United States (CDC).
"Your outrage is appropriate."
Johnson & Johnson's response
In an email to CNN, a J&J spokesperson did not respond directly to questions about why the company had said there had been reports of blood clots when in fact there were not.
The spokesperson issued a statement saying: “We continue to work closely with medical experts and global health authorities to assess the data on these extremely rare events.
Above all, we are committed to the safety and well-being of the people who use our products, and we support public awareness of signs and symptoms to ensure correct diagnosis, proper treatment, and prompt notification by healthcare professionals. ».
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In an article published on April 13, CNN pointed out problems with part of J & J's statement to the media.
In statements issued later that day and the following day, the company did not repeat the claim that there had been reports of blood clots with all vaccines.
The declaration of April 9
The issue of blood clots and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine first came up on April 9, when the European Medicines Agency issued a statement that it was investigating reports of blood clots among people who had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
In response, J&J issued a statement to the media that same day in which it stated: "We are aware that cases of thromboembolism, including thrombocytopenia, have been reported with all covid-19 vaccines."
"Thromboembolic events" is a medical term for blood clots.
What the study found in other vaccines: low blood platelet levels
The J&J statement included a footnote on the study by Lee and his colleagues, which looked at some adverse events reported after receiving the COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.
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That study, published in February in the
American Journal of Hematology
, looked at reports of people who had experienced low levels of platelets in their blood, not clots.
"These are totally different issues," said Lee, the study's lead author.
"It is as if it were apples and oranges."
The study identified reports of 17 people experiencing low blood platelets for the first time after receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
The authors concluded that these reports were "not surprising" given that tens of millions of people had received the vaccine.
As of February 2, more than 30 million people in the United States had received at least the first dose of the vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna, according to the CDC.
Having a low platelet count, or thrombocytopenia, is not uncommon and can have many causes, including pregnancy, heavy alcohol use, and certain cancers or viral infections.
Different types of vaccines
Moderna and Pfizer are mRNA vaccines and J&J is an adenovirus vector vaccine.
AstraZeneca also uses an adenovirus vector platform, and has also been linked to a very small number of rare blood clots.
Johnson & Johnson's April 9 press release included a link to a
Lancet
study
showing reports of blood clots with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
However, CDC monitoring through February 13 found no increased incidence of certain types of blood clotting disorders or thrombocytopenia among people who had received Pfizer or Moderna.
Johnson & Johnson asked Pfizer and Moderna for help in investigating the reports of blood clots, but both companies refused.
They said their vaccines appeared to be safe,
The Wall Street Journal
reported Friday
, citing people familiar with the situation.
However, AstraZeneca has agreed to join forces with Johnson & Johnson, according to the report.
When asked about the
Wall Street Journal report
, the company issued a statement to CNN saying that “At Johnson & Johnson, we believe that collaborative scientific exchange can lead to more robust answers to questions, particularly as regards it is about patient safety. '
- CNN's Justin Lape and Amanda Sealy contributed to this report.
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