The U.S. FDA is recommending a "pause" in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots. The move comes as six Americans have reportedly developed a severe disorder involving blood clots, and one later died, after receiving the shot. The CDC and FDA both said today they are investigating unusual clots that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. The clots occurred in veins that drain blood from the brain and occurred together with low platelets. All six cases were in women between the ages of 18 and 48; there was one death and all remained under investigation.
The reports appear similar to a rare, unusual type of clotting disorder that European authorities say is possibly linked to another COVID-19 vaccine that has been recalled there, and is not yet cleared in the U.S., from AstraZeneca.
As of yesterday, more than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered.