Corona current
EMA considers Johnson & Johnson vaccine safe
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The Medicines Agency has given the go-ahead for Johnson & Johnson’s corona vaccine. Now the drug can be inoculated again in this country.
The corona vaccine from the manufacturer Johnson & Johnson was only delivered to the EU for the first time last week. But as soon as the drug was available, numerous EU countries stopped vaccinations with it: As with the vaccine from AstraZeneca, cases of blood clots in the brain had occurred in the USA after vaccinations with the corona vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. Therefore, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) put the drug to the test. Now she has given the green light: The active ingredient can still be used without restriction.
Benefits of the vaccine outweigh
In very rare cases, the vaccine can actually trigger so-called sinus vein thrombosis, i.e. blood clots in the brain. However, only in combination with a very low number of blood platelets. The EMA emphasizes that the benefits of the vaccine should be rated higher than the risk of the rare sinus vein thrombosis. “All cases occurred in people under 60 within three weeks of vaccination, the majority in women,” according to the EMA. But the current data situation does not permit any reliable knowledge about specific risk factors.
In its assessment, the authority “took into account all currently available knowledge, especially from the USA”. By April 13, more than seven million US citizens had received the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. Severe cases of blood clots had occurred in eight people after vaccination – one of them ended fatally.
Deliveries start again
Johnson & Johnson responded to EMA clearance and is now shipping new doses of the vaccine to the EU and Norway. “The safety and health of the people who use our products is our top priority,” said Paul Stoffels, chief scientist of the company, according to the daily News. Johnson & Johnson wants to update the package leaflet for the vaccine, and the staff of medical facilities in which the product is used should also be specially informed.
36.7 million cans for Germany
In total, the EU Commission has ordered enough vaccines for 200 million people from Johnson & Johnson. 36.7 million of these are to be delivered to Germany. As the Robert Koch Institute reports, 20.2 percent of the population in this country have now been vaccinated at least once. According to this, ten of the 16 federal states have already reached the 20 percent mark for first vaccinations.
Sources: EMA, tagesschau.de, zeit.de