Medically reviewed by Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH — Written by Jill Seladi-Schulman, Ph.D. on June 3, 2021
Posted on 06/08/2021 8:20:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is the third COVID-19 vaccine that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized for emergency use. That means it’s been found to be both safe and effective.
It’s normal to have questions about any new vaccine, medication, or procedure. Below, we’ll address questions or concerns that you may have about the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
Before we dig deeper into the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, let’s review some key points:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA recommended a pause of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine on April 13, 2021. At the time of the pause, about 6.8 million doses of the vaccine had been given.
The purpose of this pause was to further investigate rare blood clots that had been reported after vaccination. It also served to inform healthcare professionals on how to identify and treat these clots, should they occur.
The reported blood clots occurred in the large blood vessels of the brain or abdomen and were associated with low platelet counts. The medical term for this condition is thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).
Six instances of TTS, including one death, had been reported at the time of the pause. All of these cases involved women between ages 18 and 48 years old. Symptoms of TTS began 1 to 2 weeks after receiving the J&J COVID-19 vaccine.
At the time of writing, nine further instances of TTS have been reported, according to the FDA. Two of these additional cases were associated with deaths.
Yes. On April 23, 2021, the pause on the J&J COVID-19 vaccine was lifted. After thoroughly reviewing the data on the reported cases of clots developing, the CDC and the FDA concluded that the known benefits of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine outweighed its potential risks.
TTS is a very rare side effect of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine. According to the CDC, it occurs at a rate of 7 per 1 million female individuals between the ages of 18 and 49 years. Female individuals over age 50 years and male individuals are at an even lower risk.
If you’re a person assigned female at birth and you’re under 50 years old, it’s important to be aware of the risk of these blood clots as well as their potential symptoms.
If you have reservations about receiving the J&J COVID-19 vaccine, there are other COVID-19 vaccines available that aren’t associated with this side effect. These include the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
To authorize a vaccine for emergency use, the FDA must find that the vaccine is both safe and effective. The agency reviewed clinical trial data from over 40,000 participants as well as manufacturing information that Johnson and Johnson provided.
The FDA granted the J&J COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorization (EUA) on February 27, 2021. It became the third COVID-19 vaccine in the United States to receive an EUA.
Additionally, both the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Medical Association (EMA) have found the J&J COVID-19 vaccine to be both safe and effective.
The phase 3 clinical trial of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine found that the most commonly reported side effects were similar to those of the other authorized COVID-19 vaccines. These side effects were more common in people under 60 years old and included:
These side effects typically happen within a day or two of getting the vaccine and will go away in a few days. They’re completely normal and a sign that your body is building an immune response.
Some much rarer side effects were also observed during the phase 3 clinical trial. These occurred in very few people.
Out of the 21,895 individuals who received the vaccine, only 7 people had a severe adverse effect that was considered to be related to vaccination. This is about 0.03 percent of trial participants in the vaccine group. These effects included:
The investigators did note some blood clot events. For example, 11 blood clotting events were observed in the vaccine group compared with 3 in the placebo group. Most of these participants had underlying conditions that increase the risk of blood clots.
The J&J COVID-19 vaccine is a viral vector vaccine. This means that it uses a virus to deliver the vaccine components. Let’s examine this in more detail.
An adenovirus vector is used for the J&J COVID-19 vaccine. Normally, adenoviruses cause respiratory infections in humans.
However, this adenovirus has been modified so that it cannot replicate within cells. This means that it cannot cause illness. It simply helps to deliver the vaccine components into your cells before being broken down.
To create the vaccine, the gene for the novel coronavirus spike protein was inserted into the adenovirus’ genetic material. The spike protein is normally found on the outside of the novel coronavirus and is used to bind to host cells.
It’s important to note that the genetic material supplied by the adenovirus vector cannot change your DNA in any way. Unlike some other types of viruses, such as HIV, adenoviruses don’t have the capability of integrating into DNA.
After the J&J COVID-19 vaccine is given, the modified adenovirus enters host cells in your body and releases its genetic material.
Your cells use the instructions in the genetic material the viral vector provides to produce spike protein, which is then transported to the cell surface.
Your immune system can see the spike protein on the cell surface and identify it as foreign. It produces an immune response, during which antibodies and immune cells that specifically recognize spike protein are made.
Should you come into contact with the novel coronavirus, your immune system will have been primed to recognize and defend against it. This can help to prevent you from developing COVID-19.
One of the main things that you may have heard about the J&J COVID-19 vaccine is that it requires just one dose instead of two. Why is this?
Early clinical trials tested both a one- and two-dose vaccine regimen. It was found that 90 percent of participants made robust levels of neutralizing antibodies 29 days after the first dose. Researchers found that levels of these antibodies remained stable 71 days after the first dose.
The extent and stability of this response prompted researchers to continue with the one-dose regimen in further trials. Trials to investigate a two-dose J&J COVID-19 vaccine regimen are also ongoing.
You may be wondering how exactly is the J&J COVID-19 vaccine different from the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Generally speaking, there are three major differences:
You may be wondering why we didn’t list differences in effectiveness. This is because the clinical trials for the three COVID-19 vaccines were:
According to the FDA, it’s only possible to directly compare the effectiveness of the three COVID-19 vaccines with a head-to head clinical trial. Overall, all three authorized COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing COVID-19.
The phase 3 clinical trial of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine included people from several locations across the globe. It measured the ability of the vaccine to prevent both mild to moderate COVID-19 and severe COVID-19.
The J&J COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness at preventing mild to moderate COVID-19 14 days or more after vaccination was:
The J&J COVID-19 vaccine was also effective at preventing severe COVID-19 14 days or more after vaccination. In this case, its effectiveness was:
These findings are also notable because they provide information about the vaccine’s effectiveness for viral variants. These include the B.1351 variant first seen in South Africa and the P.2 variant discovered in Brazil.
The researchers note that most viruses discovered in both Brazil and South Africa at the time of the trial were variants. As such, the trial results indicate that the J&J COVID-19 vaccine is effective for these variants.
Now let’s examine the various pros and cons of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine.
The J&J COVID-19 vaccine is the third vaccine that has been authorized for emergency use in the United States. Unlike the other authorized COVID-19 vaccines, it only requires one dose.
Clinical trial data has shown that the J&J COVID-19 vaccine is both safe and effective for preventing both mild to moderate and serious COVID-19. It’s also been found to be effective against viral variants.
Common side effects of the vaccine are injection site reactions, fatigue, and headache. Severe side effects are very rare.
If you have questions or concerns about receiving the J&J COVID-19 vaccine, be sure to discuss them with your doctor.
Last medically reviewed on June 3, 2021
I only have one question. Why in God’s name would anyone who isn’t old, fat or unhealthy want anything dto do with this or any other Covid vaccine?
I didn’t read the article but Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH, wouldn’t have been permitted to offer it to her editor if it wasn’t government approved.
“Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is the third COVID-19 vaccine that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized for emergency use. That means it’s been found to be both safe and effective.”
dont want to rain on the parade of money and royalties
and upcoming problems, BUT this was never tested.
for some of the pseudo-”vaccines”,
the particles go to lymph nodes, beta cells in the
pancreas, brain and the ovaries.
no one has tested this long term on humans
and since FauXi and CDC coupled in prions and HIV,
there should have been 30 years longs testing.
So as to not infect people who are?
RE: Why in God’s name would anyone who isn’t old, fat or unhealthy want anything dto do with this or any other Covid vaccine?
There are only these possibilities:
1) Take your chance with Covid and boost your immune system and live healthy ( with a 99.7% chance of recovery )
2) Take your chance with the vaccine ( which will probably protect you against Covid but not 100% ). And under this possibility, risk the adverse side effects or possibly deaths, which is 1 in 7 million.
3) Take your chances with repurposed drugs that are reported to help against Covid - Ivermectin and/or Hydroxycholoroquine.
“If you’re a person assigned female at birth”
Really?
RE: BUT this was never tested.
OK, a of this writing, roughly 10 to 12 million doses of J&J has already been administered in the USA. Does this not count as “tested”?
And what are the side effects from Ivermectin?
All studies show it is on par with the experimental vaccines and has no adverse side effects and isn’t killing people
Cause most people are compliant sheep, and will do what they're told.
They don't wanna get in trouble or be called bad names.
Its the bad name callers you need to watch out for. They're the ones calling the shots (pun intended).
Examples of a bad names: 'Conspiracy theorist', 'cultist'.
Let me think about it... No!
RE: And what are the side effects from Ivermectin?
There are side effects for over dosing. But not as adverse as what have been reported for the vaccines.
They don’t stop spreading.
Next question.
No, it’s not tested.
It has not gone lengthy trials, and they are way under reporting injuries and deaths, not just in the US but around the world as well.
RE: Why in God’s name would anyone who isn’t old, fat or unhealthy want anything dto do with this or any other Covid vaccine?
Do you plan to fly when you travel?
Pretty soon, you will have no choice but to take the vaccine otherwise, you’ll have to charter your own private plane.
And even if you are that rich to charter your own plane, if you plan to travel overseas, some countries will require a vaccine passport to let you in.
As an act of submission to the Left and coercion to vaccine passports, restriction from various activities by the Marxists, peer shaming, etc. etc.
The issue is not “tested” vs “non-tested”.
There has been no long-term (five year, ten year) testing. That is a simple fact—and any claims about no serious long term effects are just magical thinking.
The second issue is the integrity of Big Pharma. Can they be trusted to accurately test and report test results. My answer is no because there are big dollars on the table—and we hairless apes almost always grab the banana without asking too many questions.
Also need to factor in the scenario where you get Covid and survive but don’t fully recover — the so-called “long Covid” or “long haul Covid.” Apparently some people are left with permanent problems. The raw fatality rate, which is extremely low especially for younger people, doesn’t reflect this possibility. Would be nice to have better stats on this.
Regarding requiring a shot to fly...
That’s called Fascism, and you’re ok with it. In fact, you’re using it to bolster your arguments.
Couple of the cruise lines just backed off that demand when Florida said no. That’s what it will take to get rid of you Fascists.
If you’re a person assigned female at birth...
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