No one knows for sure yet whether the FDA made the right call in pausing the usage of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, but the agency is already facing criticism for poor risk assessment and shortsightedness. Some state officials are worried the decision will increase vaccine hesitancy, regardless of which shot people are set to receive. "There's nothing we can do to restore confidence," one GOP state official told CBS News.
Nearly 7 million doses of the single-shot vaccine have been administered in the United States, and there are six reported cases of recipients developing a rare and severe type of blood clot. Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency room physician and professor at Brown University, tweeted on Tuesday that a connection is "plausible," but even if it turns out to be real, she added, the risk is still far lower than the risk of developing a blood clot from a COVID-19 infection, which may be as high as 20 percent.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Quiz of The Week: 26 July – 1 AugustHave you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
Uttar Pradesh: from a once-in-a-generation festival to tiger tracking in an ancient forestThe Week Recommends Soak up the state's rich culture on one of Explorations Company's specially curated tours
-
The Week Unwrapped: Could AI replace catwalk models?Podcast Plus, should countries sue each other for climate damage? And what does Grand Theft Auto 6 tell us about the video game industry?
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measlesSpeed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
