article link: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/13/politics/white-house-johnson-and-johnson/index.html
On Tuesday morning April 13, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed President Biden and the public that health agencies across the US are recommending a shutdown for the administering of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine after several cases of extremely rare blood clotting. Officials claim that the shutdown will not affect the process of vaccinating Americans, as Pfizer and Moderna doses will be provided as replacements. Governors and Health Officials, however, still hold concern that the shutdown will deplete confidence in the vaccine that is so important for the US to come out of the pandemic.
President Biden gave a speech midday Tuesday where he addressed the situation, saying,"There is enough vaccine that is basically 100% unquestionable, for every single solitary American." Although addressing concern over supply, he did not address the concerns over possible vaccine hesitancy from skeptical members of the public. As of now, all Federal Health cites, vaccination sites, and health centers were told to immediately stop giving out Johnson and Johnson vaccines. The Biden Administration is still on track to vaccinate 200 million citizens by the end of April.
The possible negative effects of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine target women mainly under the age of 60. Dr.Anthony Fauci said on the pause that the main reason behind it was to warn physicians from giving people in the at-risk group the anticoagulant heparin which is potentially dangerous, and also mentioned that the FDA and CDC would find out whether there are more cases of blood clotting than the six known.
In my opinion, the fallout of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine could be potentially very damaging on vaccine hesitancy. Many Americans have already shown skepticism over the vaccines, and the negative side effects that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine are showing are a cause for public dismay and distrust in the administering of the COVID vaccines which are brand new. Since the government is pushing the vaccines significantly, I do believe this could lead many citizens to be discouraged from attaining vaccines.
discussion questions:
- Do you believe it was rightful to pause the administering of Johnson and Johnson Vaccines?
- How do you think the pause will affect the process of Americans getting vaccinated?
I do believe it was a good decision to pause the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of it's possible negative side effects. It don't think it's worth the risk of "potentially dangerous" effects, and it's safer to just pause it. I think it will slow down the vaccinations, as scheduling one is so difficult at the moment. You mentioned making Americans wary of the vaccines, and I agree that many people are uncertain about it. It's hard to see whether the vaccines should be issued as soon as possible, or tested to make sure they are 100% safe but slow down the issuing. Although the government wants to reopen the economy and get lives back to normal, it is important to take it slow so that another outbreak doesn't happen in the midst of trying to get things going again.
ReplyDelete- kailey
I agree with what you said about taking the Johnson and Johnson vaccine off the market. However, I'm not sure what you mean when you are talking about "taking it slow" so that there is not another outbreak. In my personal opinion, when the government is doing it's best to output vaccines/reopen the economy they are always doing it to the benefit of the people. Obviously when reopening, most states have done it in a safe way in regards of the COVID-19 guidelines. At this point, it is important to reopen the economy, but I have not seen states "rush" to reopen, rather going with a more conservative action.
DeleteJohnson & Johnson is under investigation by a third party, so it was the right call to pause the usage of it until more information is known. I think such an intensive look into this vaccine is helpful in refuting some of the arguments proposed by people against the virus, since this is proving that science is coming first. The government is placing more value on safety of everyone, rather than risking even a single person's individual health, which is the main worry of anti-vaxxers. There is starting to even be a surplus in several states, and Biden himself said that the demand can be taken care of through Moderna and Pfizer. This investigation will probably bring more legitimacy to the vaccines, and have little to no affect on vaccine administration as a whole.
ReplyDeleteAs others have mentioned, I also believe that stopping the administration of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was the best course of action. First, pausing its distribution shows that the government values safety more than efficiency. There’s also the fact that not administering these vaccines means that no more individuals will develop the negative symptoms. If the government continued the distribution of the vaccine even after these warning signs, I think it would end up justifying the anti-vaxer’s points. I think the pause would mean that there needs to be a longer time frame set for distribution, as both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have pretty strict protocols. Both need two rounds of distribution and careful handling, while the Johnson and Johnson shot only needed 1 and didn’t need to be handled as carefully.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was right to pause the administering of Johnson and Johnson Vaccines, due to its possible negative effects, which includes the rare and severe blood clots found in the high-risk age group of women under 60. I think being transparent about the risks and pausing the Johnson and Johnson Vaccines distribution shows how diligent medical professionals are being in making sure that it is safe and protects everyone that receives it. While I do believe that people might be wary of getting vaccinated, Johnson and Johnson Vaccine’s effects were discovered before current news, while Pfizer and Moderna have not shown any complications so far. In fact, Pfizer and Moderna have a far more better and equivalent rates of efficacy, as the Pfizer vaccine has a 95% successful rate in preventing COVID infection after getting two doses.
ReplyDeleteI think that this was the best course of action, it's better to be safe than sorry. The negative side effects don't outweigh it's positives, especially since there are other option such as Pfizer and Moderna. I believe that it's for the best, however, I do think that this will add more to the fight between anti-vaxxers and those who support vaccination, as this would partially prove their point of how some vaccinations are stupid. Even if this is true, I think that this was the right decision and that it's better to administer Pfizer and Moderna.
ReplyDeleteI do see where you are coming from. I think that anti-vaxxers could possibly use this as evidence against vaccines efficiency and safety.However, just looking at the statistics, it is highly unlikely to experience any negative side affects, so I doubt they would be able to justify not getting the vaccine very easily.
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