South Africa suspends Johnson & Johnson vaccine rollout amid blood clot concerns

South Africa on April 13 suspended giving Johnson and Johnson vaccine shots after health concerns raised by the United States Food and Drug Administration. South African Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said that they were halting the use of J&J jabs out of an abundance of caution. He further said that the questions raised over the vaccine should be cleared within few days. 

J&J vaccine usage suspended

The South African health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said that they have suspended the usage of Johnson and Johnson as a precautionary measure. The Johnson and Johnson company delayed its European vaccine rollout after the FDA decision to pause the jabs as the authorities investigated rare blood clot cases. Earlier, the United States had recommended a pause in the usage of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine as six cases with rare blood clots after administering Johnson and Johnson vaccines were reported.

We have determined to voluntarily suspend our rollout until the causal relationship between the development of clots and the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is sufficiently interrogated, Mkhize said in a statement.

In the extremely unlikely event that Johnson and Johnson rollout is completely halted, we will not have any impediment to proceed with phase two of the rollout with Pfizer, he added.

Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration and the Centres for Disease Control are determining the “potential significance” of the six cases reported of blood clots following the administration of the J&J vaccine. US FDA took to their Twitter account to say that they are suggesting a pause in using the vaccine. CDC will hold a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on April 14 to further review these cases. 

CDC & FDA are reviewing data involving 6 reported U.S. cases of a rare & severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the vaccine. Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare, the FDA said on Twitter. 

(Image Credits: AP)