Federal regulators have again signed off on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, after a small number of clotting cases led to a pause. Oklahoma is back on board too.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced that six cases of severe but rare clotting side effects — specifically in young and middle-aged women — had been tied to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. They recommended everyone hold off on administering it until further investigation.
That investigation found that the side effect is, in fact, rare — 15 cases among 8 million vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson. Regulators deemed the vaccine safe.
They also paused administration for another reason: to prepare physicians. This clotting side effect acted differently from others, and the medication that doctors would typically prescribe — heparin — actually made the condition worse. So the FDA wanted a pause until providers knew how to identify and treat the condition.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health announced it lifted the pause on Monday morning.
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