The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may be linked to cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
The FDA is preparing to add a warning to the vaccine in light of the new findings.
But this side effect was not entirely unexpected. Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an immune response that causes paralyzation and can be very serious if not treated, has been linked to vaccinations before.
"It would not be surprising to see this," said John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
This time it might be unlikely the two are definitively linked, said Swartzberg, as only about one hundred people of the more than 12 million who got the J&J vaccine developed GBS. This is the number of people expected to contract the illness anyways, regardless of the vaccine.
"The data that is available right now, it’s not clear there is an association," said Swartzberg.
The likelihood of someone coming down with COVID-19 without the vaccine is infinitely higher. "This certainly should not discourage anybody from getting the vaccine," said Swartzberg.
According to Swartzberg, it’s possible that the other vaccines will also be connected to the side-effect. "I would not be surprised if we see the association with Moderna and Pfizer," he said.
Related
