Well, it’s all done now. The pause is over on a procedural level, though the damage to Johnson and Johnson is already done. The nation freaked out over the immensely small risk of blood clots that may or may not be linked to the vaccine. Nearly eight million doses were administered when six women suffered blood clots. Now, that number has increased to 15. There was one man who suffered a clotting issue during clinical trials (via NYT):
A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday voted to recommend lifting the pause on the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for all adults and adding a label about an exceedingly uncommon, but potentially dangerous, blood clotting disorder.
The vote came after a C.D.C. scientist presented nine new confirmed cases of the disorder, bringing the total to 15. All the cases have been in women, and 13 have been in women between 18 and 49 years old.
[…]
Administration of the vaccine ground to a halt last week after reports emerged of a rare blood clotting disorder in six women who had received the vaccine. The disorder combines blood clots, often in the brain, and a low level of platelets, blood cells that typically promote clotting.
“This pause was essential to our ability to inform the public,” Dr. José R. Romero, the chair of the advisory panel, said at the meeting.
The overall risk of developing the clotting disorder is extremely low. Women between 30 and 39 appear to be at greatest risk, with 11.8 cases per million doses given. There have been 7 cases per million doses among women between 18 and 49.
Three women have died from the rare clots and seven remain hospitalized, four of whom are in the intensive care unit, a C.D.C. scientist said at Friday’s meeting.
It’s all about risk assessment. This pause caused more harm than good to that effort, which Dr. Anthony Fauci says is the only way to return to normal. Again, the man disregards natural immunity in this equation because that would mean we’d be closer to announcing herd immunity which is something these panic peddlers don’t want to say. Look, here’s the deal—it’s your choice whether you want the vaccine. So far, tens of millions of Americans have signed up. With J&J, the reports of the clotting side effects caused undue panic in my opinion. The risk of getting a clot from the actual is higher than receiving the shot. Since this seems to be an issue that mostly impacts child-bearing women, taking birth control presents a much greater risk for clots. There is one last obstacle, however. The panel signed off on J&J vaccinations resuming with a warning from the Food and Drug Administration, but CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has the final say.
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