Why limiting AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines over blood clot fears could do more harm than good

Name: China considers mixing Covid-19 vaccine types to boost effectiveness
Uploaded: 2021-04-20T23:00:13.000Z
Duration: 2 min 1 s
Description: China considers mixing Covid-19 vaccine types to boost effectiveness

Countries across Europe and the Asia-Pacific have restricted use of both the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson jabs after reports of rare blood clots, despite the risks being minuscule

Experts warn this may be an overreaction that could prolong the pandemic by slowing down the roll-out of vaccines and fuelling public hesitancy

Reading Time:6 minutes

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A health worker prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. Photo: Getty Images

John Power

Published: 7:00am, 21 Apr 2021Updated: 8:00am, 21 Apr 2021

When Philippine vaccine tsar Carlito Galvez Jnr announced on Monday that the country’s Food and Drug Administration had authorised emergency use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, and was aiming to procure up to 10 million doses, he was ahead of the United States and European authorities in ruling on the safety of the shot.

Since last week, US authorities have suspended use of the single shot J&J vaccine – 4.5 million doses have been administered worldwide – after reports of extremely rare blood clots. The shot, which has yet to be widely distributed outside the US, also remains on hold in South Africa and several European countries although no causal link has been established between the vaccine and blood clots.

This followed similar reports of blood clots in a very small number of people who received the two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine.

Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, on Tuesday said it had found a possible link between the J&J vaccine and rare blood clotting issues in adults who had received the jab in the US, Reuters reported. However, it also reiterated that the benefits of the J&J vaccine outweighed the risks.

US pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci said on Sunday he believed the US would resume use of the J&J jab, possibly with some restrictions or warnings.

02:01

China considers mixing Covid-19 vaccine types to boost effectiveness

Across Europe and the Asia-Pacific, countries including South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, the Netherlands, France and Germany have issued restrictions or recommendations limiting use of the AstraZeneca shot among younger people, for whom the risk of side effects from the vaccine may be statistically higher than that posed by Covid-19.

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