Johnson & Johnson defended its COVID-19 vaccine amid fear it could cause blood clots, saying that clots have been reported with all three US-permitted injections, citing a study published in February.
But that study didn’t find blood clots related to the other two vaccines, made by Pfizer and Moderna.
And J&J is now under fire from the study author who cited it for misrepresenting the findings of her research.
“We haven’t found anyone with blood clots,” Dr. Eun-Ju Lee, an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and lead author of the study in question, told CNN.
“We haven’t found any of those scary things that happen to Johnson & Johnson.”
Johnson & Johnson claimed there were reports of blood clots like those causing injection interruption in the US and EU, linked to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The author of the report who cited it says this is not true
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials are investigating seven reports of blood clots, which can cause fatal brain bleeding, in people who received an injection of J&J two weeks earlier.
The agencies have discontinued use of the vaccine until their investigation is completed. New guidelines regarding the shot are expected to be issued Friday.
In addition to concerns that Johnson & Johnson’s statement was misleading, experts are concerned that the false claims it will lead to even more mistrust in vaccines – and 20 percent of Americans are already hesitant to take the photos.
So how did Johnson & Johnson get its media statement, shared by CNN, so wrong?
The Weill Cornell study found people who developed low platelet counts after receiving Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
The Johnson & Johnson statement cited the Cornell study as claiming that “thromboembolic events … have been reported with all COVID-19 vaccines.” The study found thrombocytopenia – a condition with a low platelet count – but no thrombosis or blood clots themselves after vaccination with the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.
This specific condition, known as thrombocytopenia, can sometimes lead to blood clots. When the platelet count drops, the body can ramp up production of another blood compound known as thrombin to try to make up for lost platelets.
In rare cases, this can lead to clots – and in even rarer cases, scientists think vaccines can cause a type of antibody that leads to a decrease in platelets (and then thrombosis or blood clots).
The Cornell study, published in February 2019, identified 20 cases of thrombocytopenia, suggesting that clot formation is reported to the US Adverse Reaction Tracking System within 14 days of vaccination with Pfizer or Moderna injections.
But finding these cases after vaccination is not enough to prove a connection.
Nine of them had received the Pfizer vaccine and 11 had received Moderna.
Three of the people identified in the study had a history of blood clots or a low platelet count, one had a family history of blood clots and already had an abnormal platelet count – a warning of the specific clotting condition that scientists may be concerned about. are caused by J & J’s vaccine – for their shot.
Fifteen had been treated for suspected cases of low platelet counts and three had autoimmune diseases that increased their risk of dangerous blood clots or low platelet counts.
Five cases of thrombocytopenia were reported that could not be definitively ruled out as related or unrelated to the vaccines.
Ultimately, the study found less than one case of low platelet counts per million vaccinations, among the 20 million people vaccinated by the end of the study.
The rate of low platelet count “appears to be either less than or roughly comparable to what would be seen if the cases were accidental after vaccination, perhaps enhanced somewhat by increased surveillance of symptomatic patients,” the study authors wrote.
That is clearly different from what is seen in the seven people who developed blood clots after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
One person who developed thrombocytopenia was a male in the clinical trial who died.
Since then, another six women, all between the ages of 18 and 48, have developed low platelet counts after receiving the one-time J&J injection, and one woman died.
It’s still a rate of about one in a million, but the women’s symptoms were particularly severe and similar to the problems with AstraZeneca’s vaccine in Europe, eventually leading some countries to stop recommending it for people under the 30.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that he doubts the use of J & J’s shot will be canceled altogether in the US.
More likely, updated CDC and FDA recommendations, expected on Friday, will recommend that it be used only for some age groups and genders, US surgeon general Vivek Murthy told CNN Monday.