(Washington) A US committee on Thursday called on US health officials to recommend prioritizing COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna over that from Johnson & Johnson for all adults.
The vote of these independent experts comes after the publication of new data on cases of thrombosis (formation of blood clots) after vaccination with Johnson & Johnson, which has caused nine deaths in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) have yet to endorse this recommendation of the committee, whose opinion is not binding.
But this advice, which applies to both the initial vaccination and the booster doses, is already dealing a major blow to the remedy J&J.
Less effective against hospitalization
In a context where Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccines are now widely available, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine prevents fewer hospitalizations, while posing higher health risks, summed up Sara Oliver, responsible for presenting data for the CDC.
However, experts felt that the J&J vaccine should remain available, especially for people for whom messenger RNA vaccines are contraindicated (due to allergic reactions) or if these are not available.
PHOTO DADO RUVIC, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Experts were unwilling to outright advise against Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine also because of concerns about the impact such a move could have outside of the United States, where vaccine supplies may vary.
If no other vaccine is available, the J&J always presents more benefits in the face of COVID-19 than risks, recalled Sara Oliver.
“I would not recommend Johnson & Johnson to any of my family,” committee member Beth Bell said during the meeting on Thursday. “On the other hand, we have to recognize that different people make different choices and if they are properly informed I don’t think we should take that away from them. ”
As of the end of August, 54 cases of thrombosis linked to vaccination with Johnson & Johnson had been identified in the United States, out of more than 14 million doses administered. All required hospitalization, including 36 in intensive care.
At the beginning of December nine deaths had been identified. Overall, one in seven cases has been fatal.
The risk is increased in women aged 30 to 49, with one case per 100,000 doses administered. But it also concerns other categories of the population. Among the nine deaths are two men.
The American health authorities had recommended in April a pause in the use of the vaccine of “J & J” in order to investigate the appearance of these cases of thrombosis, but had finally given the green light to the resumption of vaccinations. However, they had already included a warning about this in the emergency authorization of the vaccine.