Vaccine advisors from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet on Thursday to review the benefits and risks of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to vote on the vaccine recommendation.
Under an agenda posted online Wednesday, the team will hear presentations about thrombocytopenia and thrombocytopenia syndrome – known as TTS – a rare but serious blood clot that has been linked to vaccines. vaccines, as well as assessing the benefits and risks of vaccines.
The CDC has been saying for months that the known and potential benefits of the J&J vaccine outweigh the known and potential risks. However, women younger than 50 years of age should be aware of the rare but increased risk of TTS, which is associated with blood clots with low platelets. Safety monitoring has been underway since the adverse event was first identified in April.
The advisory committee is scheduled to meet from noon to 4 p.m. ET Thursday. Voting is scheduled to take place at 2:30 p.m. ET. It is not clear what the voting question will be.
Single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is approved for use in persons 18 years of age and older and can be used as a booster shot for fully vaccinated adults with J&J, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Vaccine advisors will also hear about the safety of vaccines in children 5 to 11 years old.
During a White House Covid-19 briefing on Wednesday, CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky did not say why the committee was meeting on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or whether she believed the vaccine’s benefits. please still greater risk or not.
“ACIP meets continuously to review the safety data of all their vaccines and I would look forward to their discussions tomorrow,” Walensky said in response to a question from CNN’s Jeremy Diamond.
A source close to the situation told CNN that the CDC has been “secretive” about what the vote will be, but it could involve limiting who gets recommended vaccinations.
“I think most of the discussion will be about J&J – do we need to use this because we have so many others, or if it is used, should it focus on certain populations? ?” source said. “J&J did not comply with the payment as one and completed.”
“We can get rid of J&J and do well in this country,” the source said.
The source added that it’s possible the CDC could recommend against using Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine in women under 50. While women 30-49 have the highest rates of TTS blood clots, the source notes that it also occurs in older people. women and in men.
J&J did not mention the ACIP meeting in a response to CNN on Wednesday. It acknowledged that the US Food and Drug Administration updated its vaccine fact sheet on Tuesday to say that people with a history of TTS should not get Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Covid-19 vaccine. Johnson.
Johnson & Johnson says “the safety and health of those who use our products is our number one priority” and that it “strongly supports increasing awareness of signs and symptoms.” of this rare event.”
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