The United States Prepares To Give The Green Light Again For Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

The US health authorities are inclined to lift the pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine after finding a limited number of additional cases of blood clots.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to include a warning on the vaccine label to report this

extremely rare

potential side effect

.

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"We know it's not good to extend the hiatus any longer than necessary

," Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA's chief vaccine regulator, said Thursday.

A prolonged pause could contribute to increasing doubts about vaccines at a time when the rate of vaccination begins to slow after exceeding 200 million injected doses.

The health authorities will make a decision when the expert committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, in English) pronounces this Friday afternoon. 

The government's top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, said in several interviews that he expects a decision by Friday.

"I would be very surprised if we didn't have some kind of resumption [of the J&J vaccination] by Friday," Fauci said, "I really don't think they want to extend [the hiatus] any longer."

Fauci, who is chief medical adviser to the president, Joe Biden, further said that

possible restrictions could be based on the age or gender of those

eligible to receive this vaccine.

Federal health agencies recommended on April 13 to stop this vaccine because there were six cases of clots in women between 18 and 48 years old, between 6 and 13 days after being immunized.

One of them died and another was in critical condition.

The clots occurred in the veins that drain blood from the brain and were associated with a low level of platelets.

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European medical authorities made a decision similar to what the United States could take, resuming vaccination but adding a warning.

In his opinion, the benefits of the vaccine against a disease that has caused millions of deaths worldwide are greater than the risks found. 

The United States exceeds 32 million infections of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic

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Pfizer and Moderna vaccines effective against two major variants

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are effective against two variants, two independent studies have shown.

One of these is the one that was first discovered in the

UK,

B.1.1.7, and is currently the most common in the country.

Both studies, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, also show that both vaccines

prevent serious and fatal diseases

in the case of variant B.1.526, identified in

New York

in November.

The antibodies that these vaccines generate are only

slightly less potent

in people infected with some of these variants.

"The message that can be drawn is that

the vaccines are going to work against the New York, South African and UK variants,

" Nathan Landau, a virologist at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, told The New York Times. York, who ran one of the studies.

Experts analyze whether the use of J & J's vaccine against COVID-19 is authorized

April 23, 202100: 39

Demand for the vaccine falls

Despite experts' warning about the efficacy and safety of vaccines licensed in the country, in some places many people are rejecting shipments.

“

It is paralyzing

.

Some people don't want it, ”Stacey Hileman, a health department nurse in the rural district of Decatur, Kansas, told The Associated Press news agency, where less than a third of the 2,900 residents have even received the first dose.

More than half of adults in the United States have received at least one dose, and the president this week celebrated exceeding his goal of applying 200 million doses in his first 100 days in office.

He also spoke of a new stage in which he hopes to overcome the reluctance of some to receive the vaccine.

Barbara Gennaro, a mother of two in Yazoo City, Mississippi, said everyone in her neighborhood opposes the vaccine.

"All the strong Christians I have relationships with oppose it," he said.

"The greater the trust in the Lord, the less likely they will want the vaccine or consider it necessary," he added.

With information from AP and The New York Times.