The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Thursday it was limiting the use of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Covid-19 vaccine for adults due to the risk of a rare blood clotting syndrome.
The J&J injection, according to the CDC, can be given in situations when authorized or approved Covid-19 vaccinations are unavailable or if a person does not want to use the other two shots.
The FDA announced in a statement that the change was made due to the risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a rare and dangerous clotting condition that can occur after getting the vaccine.
The updated authorization also applies to booster doses, according to the FDA.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 18.7 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the US as of Thursday. 7.7% of those who are deemed completely immunized received this vaccine.
The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee updated its recommendation on Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine after a meeting in December, saying it makes a “preferential recommendation for the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines over the Janssen adenoviral-vectored COVID-19 vaccine in all persons aged 18 years and older in the United States.”
The same concerns about TTS were raised by the committee.
The FDA claims that 15% of TTS cases resulted in death in an updated fact sheet on the vaccine.
TTS symptoms usually appear one or two weeks following inoculation. Shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, persistent abdomen pain, neurological symptoms such as headaches or confused vision, or red spots just beneath the skin called petechiae beyond the vaccination site are all possible symptoms.
“The Janssen Covid-19 vaccine can cause thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) which may be life-threatening,” according to the new warning on the vaccine’s fact sheet.