Was just coming here to post this. Everyone in the Vaccine Hunters group is completely losing their shit over this because people’s appointments are being cancelled left and right. 
My admittedly limited layperson’s medical knowledge says, hm, I wonder if they were on hormonal birth control? Maybe J&J doesn’t play nicely with it? Who knows.
I think pausing J&J is a bad call. The rate of blood clots is so super low (less than 1 in a million) and it’s just going to make those people that were on the fence about getting the vaccine decide not to.
I think so too but they probably don’t want to risk lawsuits. It’s a shame that it was J&J that had the issue, since I’m hearing that that’s the one that vaccine-hesitant people are more likely to accept because one and done. And also the one that is easier for people who work jobs where you can’t just peace out for a few hours to go to 2 appointments. Or have small kids, making 2 appointments tough. Or a million other reasons.
Yes! Such a shame. I hope the investigation is quick and all these doses can get back out there and into arms. I’m glad I got my J&J last week!
It looks like the pause will only be a couple of days. I’m heartened that they’re investigating this even though it’s only a few people. It could impact future vaccines or treatments or lead to more understanding of why this is happening in certain people. A lot of inequities in the medical system exist because of only considering the majority and looking at outliers like these as inconsequential or just bad luck. I think this level of caution is a sign that humanity is becoming more compassionate!
“This announcement will not have a significant impact on our vaccination plan,” White House COVIF-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said in a statement. “Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes up less than 5 percent of the recorded shots in arms in the United States to date. Based on actions taken by the President earlier this year, the United States has secured enough Pfizer and Moderna doses for 300 million Americans,” he stressed.
Officials said they believed the recommended pause in J&J vaccinations would last just a matter of days.
If the pause is only for a couple days, what are they doing in those couple days?
Like @haypug16 said, I’m mostly worried that it will push people who were undecided into the “these are all too new/scary/untested” camp and reduce our overall vaccination rate.
I’m glad it’s only for a few days. I’m assuming they’re just going to be reviewing data from trials to make sure they didn’t see this? It looks like it’s a similar reaction to what they’re seeing with the AZ vaccine, maybe there will be some comparison there.
Seems like at least part of it is to communicate to the health care community that this is a possible side effect, and how to treat it:
It’s frustrating to me that this is such a hit for PR when it’s exactly what should happen. I agree it’s good to investigate any serious side effects, even if rare. Maybe there’s some kind of comorbidity or contraindication, like birth control. Maybe they will learn something that will benefit future vaccines. And, most importantly, health care workers will know what to look for and how to handle it.
Yeah, there are tons of comments on our local news site’s post about this “you fucking dumbass sheep, see what happens when you listen to the government and let people inject this untested shit into you?” Sigh.
I’m upset about the timing too, because Maine launched its mobile vaccination clinic literally yesterday and it was supposed to stop by like 12 towns by the end of the week. And now they only got to do Monday. Such a blow to rural vaccine access!
Yeah, you just can’t win. Gloss over the side effects so you don’t scare people when the info is nuanced? “You’re hiding something!” Be fully transparent about every rare side effect, and take the particularly dangerous ones very seriously? “It’s poison!”
Honestly I could go on a whole rant about the state of science journalism, and how the advent of negative journalism and click-driven headlines is making this country’s already-poor science literacy even worse, but I’ll refrain.
Yeah, I get what you’re saying. At the same time I totally understand why some people don’t want to be vaccinated yet. If I were already prone to blood clots or on a medication that increased them this news would give me pause, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. I think the why in why people are refusing the vaccine matters a lot too.
I also completely agree with @zygote . The “journalism” industry is hugely to blame on this front, liberal media included. The fear stoking has been constant and unrelenting and seems to be continuing, which is a shame. Nuance is rare these days, lol.
It absolutely is and I really appreciate you adding some to the vaccine refusal conversation especially. I need to fight my knee-jerk reaction of “anyone refusing the vaccine is a jerk”!
I’ve been asking myself a lot, “Am I angry because an injustice is happening to me, or am I angry because I’m scared?” I think a lot of people, on all sides, are just terrified. I think when people are scared critical thinking becomes much harder and simplistic answers (we should all get vaccinated ASAP vs. no one should get vaccinated yet) are very comforting.
This is an excellent point (and applicable to many areas of life, I think, so thank you).
I’m sorry. The definition of “elective” is certainly being stretched past its breaking point. I hope this person has the broader support they need so that they can be pain free at times and trust the childcare to someone else (and that the person doing that has the support they need too!). It is so tough that the very coping mechanisms and support are also removed by this situation.
They are going to let the kids go to the grandparents for a week or two, so the second parent can rest and everyone can deescalate (grandparent visit was going to happen for surgery anyway). But overall the family is in a hotspot and very cautious about protecting their family/support network. A lot of surgeries have been cancelled this year because they weren’t emergencies. The repercussions will last a long time. Hoping this is the last wave
This was my concern about the pandemic from the beginning. I was mostly concerned about poor countries where HIV, typhoid fever and malaria kill by waves. But now it seems to be an issue worldwide (except maybe in Asians countries?). With surgeries delayed and people opting out of preventive care, the repercussions in long term health care are worrisome.
Our pediatrician recommended we do many of our kids vaccine’s early, because she is concerned about loss of herd immunity for many childhood diseases because so many people are skipping preventative care for their children, since they are afraid to be at the doctor’s.
So applicable! It helps me a lot 