Wisconsin suspends Johnson & Johnson shots
April 13, 2021
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) Wisconsin health officials told vaccinators on Tuesday to suspend use of the Johnson & Johnson shot amid fears the shots may cause blood clots.
The Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended vaccinators pause the shots while they investigate whether the Johnson & Johnson shots are causing unusual clots. FDA officials say the pause could last days.
The clots occurred in veins that drain blood from the brain and occurred together with low platelets, the fragments in blood that normally form clots. All six cases were in women between the ages of 18 and 48. One person died, and all of the cases remain under investigation.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is telling vaccine providers not to administer the Johnson & Johnson shot while federal health authorities investigate an extremely rare but severe blood-clotting reaction.
Providers should keep the vaccine until a federal review has been completed, DHS secretary-designee Karen Timberlake said in a Tuesday statement.
Earlier Tuesday, federal health officials recommended an immediate halt to injections of the single-dose vaccine after six people in the U.S. developed a blood-clotting condition known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis within two weeks of being vaccinated.
One woman died and one has been hospitalized in critical condition, The New York Times reported. All six cases were women between the ages of 18 and 48.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is instructing vaccinators in the state to stop using the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for now. Federal