A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee voted Thursday to advise calling mRNA coronavirus vaccines such as the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna versions the preferred treatment option over the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to concerns of blood clotting issues with the latter.
In April, the FDA temporarily halted the use of the J&J vaccine to look at cases of a rare clotting disorder that six women got within two weeks of getting the shot. Days later, a CDC panel advised continuing the use of J&J.
The issue of J&J blood clots is a result of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices considering new data from the company on the matter. Blood clots as a result of the J&J vaccination are rare but severe.
Nevertheless, J&J officials say their vaccine is a potent weapon against the coronavirus and dispute the advisory committee’s recommendation.
“We are confident in the durability of protection,” Penny Heaton, global therapeutic area head of vaccine at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies at J&J, said, Axios reported.
Heaton noted that the antibody titers peak later than the mRNA vaccines but stay around longer.