Administration of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine has resumed in the United States.
Several states have already announced that they will resume its use, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English) decided to do so.
The advice came after a panel of experts evaluated isolated reports of blood clots in people who received this single-dose drug for days.
The conclusion of the medical authorities is that, despite the existence of this potential adverse effect, registered to date in a very small number of people vaccinated with this product,
the benefits it provides far outweigh the risks
.
[Plan your vaccination: this tool helps to know who is eligible and where to schedule an appointment]
The European Union drug authority, where J & J's vaccination has just started, reached a similar conclusion after analyzing the cases detected in the United States.
Doubts persist, but risk is minimal
However, there are people who remain with doubts as to whether or not to trust her.
"I would like to give you some more time to see what changes it can bring to the body," a young woman answered, for example, to questions from Noticias Telemundo.
"I don't think [I would wear it]," said another interviewee, "in the end it is your health and what could affect it is you, so you have to be careful."
The specialists who have carried out the safety controls on the vaccine, as well as others who have independently reviewed their conclusions, have nevertheless given clear explanations about the ratio between benefits and risks observed in this case and in accordance with current knowledge.
"In terms of benefits, we found that for every million doses of this vaccine, the J&J vaccine could
prevent more than 650 hospitalizations and 12 deaths among women ages 18 to 49
," as well as "
more than 4,700 hospitalizations and almost 600 deaths among women over 50
, "said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
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"These are significant numbers and show the important impact of this vaccine in our country," he added.
"In the end, this
vaccine
was shown to
be safe and effective for the vast majority of people,
" is his conclusion.
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On almost 8 million people who received the vaccine of J & J, they detected cases of receiving people developing a very unusual type of blood clot
were 15
.
All were women, the majority under 50 years of age.
Three died and seven remain hospitalized.
To put it in other words, "this means that the incidence of these disorders is tremendously reduced, much lower than the probability of having clotting problems due to infection" of COVID-19, according to the professor of immunology at the Complutense University of Madrid Salvador Iborra Martín, who spoke in an interview published in The Conversation.
Of course, added this professor, "the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could cause slightly more annoying side effects (
fatigue, fever, headache, malaise
, etc ...) than its competitors, especially in young people with a stronger immune system. "strong".
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After finding very rare cases of blood clots in some vaccine recipients, the CDC advisory panel recommended adding a warning to Johnson & Johnson vaccines about these potential clots, even though they have been very rare.
In addition, the health authorities of the United States and Europe assured that they will continue to monitor the administration of this vaccine, as well as that of the others, in case problems are detected in the future.
"Our vaccine safety systems are working. We identify exceptionally rare events, out of millions of doses," Walensky said
.
The process of monitoring drugs and vaccines that are already on the market is something that happens normally, also with many products that do not receive the public attention generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, experts have explained.
Sometimes, as a result of these reviews, changes to the guidelines and recommendations for the use of these products may occur after analyzing the effects in patients.
CNN estimates that the United States already has more than 9 million doses of the J&J vaccine to administer.
With information from NBC News, AP, The Conversation, CNN.
