Johnson & Johnson defended its COVID-19 vaccine amid concerns that it could cause blood clots, saying clots were reported with all three authorized shootings in the United States, citing a study published in February.
But that study found no blood clots related to the other two vaccines, made by Pfizer and Moderna.
And J&J is now under the fire of the author of the very study he cited, because it distorted the results of his research.
“We didn’t find anyone with blood clots,” Dr. Eun-Ju Lee, an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and lead author of the study, told CNN.
“I didn’t find any of those scary things happening to Johnson & Johnson.”
Johnson & Johnson claimed that there were reports of blood clots, such as those that triggered a US and EU break on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine shootout. The author of the quoted report says it is false
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials are investigating seven reports of blood clots that could cause fatal brain bleeding in people who were shot J & J two weeks earlier .
The agencies suspended the use of the vaccine until the end of their investigation. The new shooting guidelines are expected to be released on Friday.
In addition to worries that Johnson & Johnson’s statement was misleading, experts are worried that his false claims will fuel distrust of vaccines – and 20% of Americans are already hesitant to take the shots.
So how did Johnson & Johnson manage to misrepresent its press release, shared by CNN?
The Weill Cornell study found people who developed a low platelet count after receiving Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
The Johnson & Johnson statement cited the Cornell study because it stated that “thromboembolic events … were reported with all COVID-19 vaccines.” The study found thrombocytopenia – a low platelet count – but not thrombosis or blood clots itself after vaccination with Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine.
This condition, known as thrombocytopenia, can sometimes lead to the formation of blood clots. When the platelet count decreases, the body may begin to increase the production of another blood compound, known as thrombin, to try to make up for lost platelets.
In rare cases, this can lead to clots – and in even rarer cases, scientists believe that vaccines can trigger a type of antibody that lowers platelet counts (and then thrombosis or blood clots). .
The Cornell study, published in February 2019, identified 20 cases of thrombocytopenia, suggesting that clots could form in the US side-tracking system within 14 days of vaccination with photos of Pfizer or Moderna.
But finding these cases after vaccination is not enough to prove a connection.
Nine of them had received the Pfizer vaccine and 11 had received the Moderna.
Three of the people identified in the study had a history of blood clots or a low platelet count, one had a family history of blood clots and already had an abnormal platelet count – a warning sign for the special state of blood clotting. Scientists, worries can be triggered by the J&J vaccine – before they are shot.
Fifteen had been treated for suspected cases of low platelet counts and three had autoimmune conditions that increased their risk of dangerous clots or low platelet counts.
Five cases of thrombocytopenia have been reported that could not be decisively ruled out as related or unrelated to vaccines.
Finally, the study found less than one case of low platelet counts per million vaccinations, among the 20 million people who were vaccinated by the end of the study.
The rate of low platelet counts “appears to be either lower or roughly comparable to what would be seen if the cases were coincident after vaccination, probably somewhat improved by increased surveillance of symptomatic patients,” the study authors wrote.
This is significantly different from what is seen in the seven people who developed blood clots after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
One person who developed thrombocytopenia was a human in the clinical trial who died.
Since then, six other women, all between the ages of 18 and 48, have developed a low platelet count after receiving a single dose of J&J, and one woman has died.
It is still a rate of about one in a million, but women’s symptoms have been particularly severe and similar to the problems seen with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe, which has led some countries to stop recommending people under 30 years.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he doubts that the use of J & J’s photo will be completely canceled in the US
More likely, the updated CDC and FDA recommendations, expected on Friday, will recommend its use only for certain age groups and genders, American surgeon Vivek Murthy told CNN on Monday.