A child getting a COVID-19 vaccine dose.Photo: Getty
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended that adults 18 and over choose eitherPfizerorModernavaccines over the Johnson & Johnson shot to get vaccinated againstCOVID.
The announcementcomes after theCDC confirmed 54cases of people developing blood clots while showing low platelet levels — a rare condition known asThrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome(TTS).
Nine TTS deaths were reported following the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. TTS death rates were highest among females 30–39 years of age and 40–49 years of age.
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine.Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty
“The TTS case reporting rates following Janssen [Johnson & Johnson] vaccines is higher than previous estimates in men as well as women in a wider age range,” chair of the CDC’s vaccine and safety subgroup, Dr. Keipp Talbot, said at a CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel Thursday perCNBC.
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“We appreciate today’s discussion and look forward to working with the CDC on next steps,” said Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of Janssen Research & Development, a Johnson & Johnson company, perUSA Today. “In addition, we strongly support education and generating awareness of rare events, such as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome and how to effectively manage it.”
More than 17 million people in the United States have received the J&J vaccine,according to the CDC. In comparison, just over 285 million Americans have received the Pfizer vaccine, while a little more than 187 million people got the Moderna vaccine.
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source: people.com
