As many of you have heard, the FDA has halted administration of the Janssen (J&J), single dose vaccine as of 4/13/2021. I wanted to talk about why, should you be worried if you were scheduled to receive it or have already received it, and what evidence exists.

After receiving a barrage of calls, texts, and messages panicking about this news, I figured it would be best to put out my take on the situation (using science/evidence). First, why did this happen. Out of about 7 million doses of the J&J vaccine, six women between the ages of 18 and 48 developed cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (a rare blood clot in the veins of the brain) within six to thirteen days of being vaccinated. The FDA stopped administration of J&J vaccines simply out of “an abundance of caution.” In other words, while it is unlikely these clots are related to the vaccine, it needs to be looked into just to be sure.

Now let’s talk about why you shouldn’t worry about this whether you’ve had the vaccine or not. First of all, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is an extremely rare condition which occurs in about 2-5 people per million. That’s 5-6 times more frequent than 6 out of 7 million people in the current situation with the J&J vaccine. Also, let’s look at the risk of clotting with COVID-19 infection. Those who contract COVID-19 have about a 20% chance of developing a blood clot. That is a significantly higher risk than the observed 0.0000009% risk of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in the J&J vaccine population. Another thing to look at is the incidence of blood clots in women of childbearing age who take estrogen containing birth control pills. it is about 1 in 2000 women who will develop a blood clot on the birth control pill (that contains estrogen). In looking at all of this, it is clear that the risk of developing a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is extremely rare and unlikely to have been related to the vaccine. The FDA, CDC, and ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) are looking into this extensively to make sure it is not a credible risk to people receiving the J&J vaccine. It is likely they will be making a statement on these cases by the end of this week or next.

So, if you have received the vaccine, should you worry? The easy answer is no. The benefit of preventing disease in 80% of people as well as preventing transmission and 100% of hospitalizations/deaths greatly outweighs the extremely minuscule risk of vaccine-associated clots (if it’s actually related). If you had an appointment for J&J scheduled, try and call and get the Pfizer or Moderna because any vaccine is a good vaccine against COVID-19 at this point.

While it seems as though I have dismissed the cases of clots, I haven’t. I am simply looking at the data in a rational manner, however, that is why the various health agencies are investigating this and I am eager to hear their conclusions. If you had the J&J vaccine and develop any strange symptoms within 2-3 weeks of the shot including a new/unusual headache, dizziness, blurred vision, or seizure-like activity, please please please call your primary care provider!

Okay, so that is my two cents on the J&J clotting concerns. No matter what, please continue all your efforts in getting vaccinated because there are plenty to go around (or at least getting there)!

Stay safe and be well!