Fast Facts for April 13, 2021
The FDA and CDC have decided to temporarily put a pause on administering the Johnson & Johnson Covid 19 vaccine out of an… abundance of caution.
The doctors say there is a “rare but severe” chance of a specific type of blood clotting called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis –in combination with low levels of blood platelets.
How rare?
The f-d-a says among the 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine that have been administered, six cases were found. Do the math…that’s less than one in a million.
The pause in vaccinations only impacts the J&J vaccine – not Pfizer or Moderna.
Those six cases were found in women aged 18 to 48 who received the J&J vaccine. Their symptoms developed six to 13 days after vaccination.
So if you received J&J the FDA says to look out for severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath. If you have any of these symptoms within the first three weeks – talk to your doctor immediately. If you received the vaccine more than three weeks ago – you’re at very low risk.
Johnson and Johnson has put out a statement acknowledging this pause and saying the “safety and well-being of the people who use our products is our number one priority.” An FDA advisory panel is meeting tomorrow to discuss these six cases and figure out the next steps.
If any of this is of concern for you – please talk to your doctor.
FDA Statement here.
Johnson & Johnson statement here.
PLUS
Tomorrow – president Biden will announce he’s beginning to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan and will complete the full draw down of u-s service members as we near the 20th anniversary of September 11th.
Currently – less than 3000 American troops are stationed there.
This move will keep some of the troops in Afghanistan a few months past the May 2021 withdrawal deadline that president Trump originally negotiated with the Taliban. After reviewing the current Afghanistan situation, tomorrow president Biden will outline why he thinks it’s necessary to hold some of those troops over till September.
Perhaps some of the reasoning comes from a new threat assessment report from the department of national intelligence. That report paints a really grim picture of the prospects of peace in Afghanistan within the next year between the Taliban and the afghan government backed by the US and NATO allies.
The report says “the afghan government will struggle to hold the Taliban at bay if the coalition withdraws support”
The war in Afghanistan has cost trillions of dollars and more importantly cost the lives of more than 2000 American lives.
The president made a campaign promise to put an end to “forever wars” and says even if troops pull out of Afghanistan, diplomatic efforts will remain to try and ensure stability. We’ll get more tomorrow.
PLUS
President Biden may finally address a joint session of congress on April 28th.
The house speaker – as part of her normal duty – officially invited the president to “share your vision for addressing the challenges and opportunities of this historic moment.”
Both president Trump and Obama addressed the joint session of congress in February of their first terms in office.
But because all 100 senators jam into the house chamber that currently seats 429 representatives – the room is a little tight – not the best idea during a pandemic.
The house speaker says she had to wait for the go-ahead from the capitol physician and the sergeant at arms.
Based on the this letter it looks like that happened.
We’ll wait to hear from the Biden administration to confirm that date. But most likely it’ll happen.
Read the letter here.
