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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday limited the use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in the United States after reviewing the risk of rare but serious blood clots.
In a statement, the federal agency said the emergency authorization of J&J’s serum will now be restricted to those 18 and older for whom other vaccines are not available or medically appropriate, or who do not want to receive another vaccine.
The change is due to the risk of developing a rare and dangerous type of blood clot, called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), after the administration of the vaccine.
According to official data, about 18 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the United States, which is about 7.7% of the citizens considered fully vaccinated in the country.
The FDA has, however, emphasized the rarity of this dangerous condition, with 3.23 cases per million doses of the vaccine administered and nine confirmed deaths.
In December last year, the health authorities had already recommended the use of the Pfizer/BioNRech and Moderna vaccines as preferable to that of Johnson & Johnson.
