A European drug regulator is examining blood clots among four people in the United States who have received Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to a report.
The European Medicines Agency said three serious cases of coagulation and low platelets had occurred in the US during the launch of the J&J vaccine at its Janssen unit and that one person had died from a coagulation disorder reported during a clinical trial. The EMA report is the first to mention a blood clot probe associated with the J&J vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson said it is aware of rare reports of blood clots and is working with regulators.
“At present, no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events and the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.
The Food and Drug Administration said it was aware of the blood clot problem and also found no “causal relationship with vaccination”.
Nearly 5 million people in the United States had received the J&J vaccine as of Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The problem of blood clots in the brain reported by some in Europe who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine is also under investigation.