US health officials call for halt to Janssen vaccination after six cases of thrombosis

BarcelonaUS health agencies have called for an immediate halt to Janssen vaccination after six people who had received the vaccine, the only vaccine against covid-19 that is administered in a single dose, developed a rare form of thrombosis. They are women aged 18 to 48 who had been immunised less than two weeks before: one has died and the other is hospitalised in critical condition. So far, seven million Americans have received this vaccine and nine million more vaccines have been shipped to other countries, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a statement recommending that the vaccination be stopped "as a precaution", and have called a press conference in the coming hours.

Investigators from the two agencies will jointly examine whether there is a link between the vaccine and the cases of thrombosis and will determine whether to maintain the authorisation for use of the vaccine or limit it to certain groups at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

The decision could complicate the vaccination campaign after the doubts arose around the Oxford and AstraZeneca vaccine, which the European Medicines Agency considers effective and safe but has been linked to dozens of cases of thrombosis, which has led most European governments not to indicate it for younger population. The fact is that this information increases the population's scepticism around vaccines.