BUFFALO (WBEN) - On Tuesday, the FDA and CDC recommended a distribution pause for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because six women exhibited blood clotting symptoms roughly two weeks after getting their shot.
Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock expects the pause to only last "a matter of days."
While the news may come as a concern to those who have recently or are planning on receiving the J&J vaccine, Dr. Tom Russo, Chief of Infectious Disease at the Jacobs School of Medicine, stated that this should not be a cause for panic.
"I think we really need to emphasize how extraordinarily unusual this condition seems to be at this time," said Russo. "No grounds for panic, but vigilance, I think, is okay in the order of the day.
"I think the good news here is that this issue is not at all associated with the RNA vaccines, the Phizer and Moderna vaccines, and that is the dominant vaccine supply in this country," he continued.
Dr. John Sellick of the VA and Jacobs School of Medicine agrees that this is no time to panic, but he does believe the pause is the correct decision despite the rarity of cases.
"I don't think anybody is throwing out their J&J vaccine, but certainly we're all in agreement that we have to take this pause, try to figure out what the data are showing us, and then make some decision about what we will do with that vaccine going forward," said Sellick.
When asked about vaccine hesitancy and what advice he'd offer people who are now gun-shy to get a Phizer or Moderna vaccine, Sellick said they should proceed.
"I would tell them to keep their appointment and 'please, go get it,'" said Sellick. "The technology of the Phizer and Moderna vaccines is completely different from the J&J and AstraZeneca. There have been hundreds of millions of doses of the Phizer and Moderna vaccines given with no safety signals like this."
