It's not over for the J&J vaccine

I talked with 12 people today, including one who had recently received the J&J shot and several others who had originally intended to. They all struck a similar note: The pause is a reflection, they told me, of federal regulation in action—responding to even the tiniest hint of a safety issue, in case it blossoms into something serious. In similar situations, other vaccines have been subject to the same scrutiny; it’s not that uncommon for products to hit roadblocks after initial clearance. “I’m somewhat concerned, but I’m not freaking out,” Omer said. With the right monitoring systems in place, investigations like this can and should happen, with transparency. “This is the system working as intended,” Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at the University of Florida who studies vaccine trials, told me. “We’re paying close attention to even these exceedingly rare outcomes.”... Angela Rasmussen, a virologist affiliated with Georgetown University, told me she received J&J’s vaccine eight days ago, which puts her squarely in this sensitive window. She also falls within the age range of the women who reported post-vaccination clotting. She’ll be on the lookout for any unusual symptoms, but is “keeping it all in perspective,” she said. Even if experts do determine that the vaccines are at the root of these clots, they are probably very, very rare. “If I thought I was going to get a blood clot, I would also buy a lottery ticket,” Rasmussen told me.
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