COVID-19: UCSF Reports First US Case Of Male Recipient Developing Blood Clot After Johnson & Johnson Vaccination
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- After weekend clearance of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine by federal, state and local health officials, UCSF has reported the first known case in the United States of an adult male developing a blood clot after receiving the shot.
Use of the vaccine had been halted for nearly two weeks after 15 recipients developed a highly unusual kind of blood clot out of nearly 8 million people given the J&J shot. All were women, most under age 50. Three died, and seven remain hospitalized.
In the UCSF case, the Bay Area resident is a man his early 30s, who got a clot in his leg following receiving a J&J vaccine shot on April 8 and began to experience escalating pain in the lower back and leg on April 16.
He is hospitalized and doing well.
"I would expect him to leave the hospital in the next few days," Dr. Andrew Leavitt said in an interview Sunday night with the San Francisco Chronicle. "I saw him today, and he was doing beautifully. When I saw him he was in good spirits chatting with his dad."
UCSF currently is in the midst of alerting federal health officials to the details of the case.
After an extensive medical review and a greenlight from federal health officials, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Saturday evening that California will resume administering the single shot J&J vaccine.
Newsom's announcement came after the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup cleared the vaccine's use on Saturday afternoon. The medical panel echoed sentiments voiced on Friday night by the CDC and FDA that the vaccine's benefits outweighed a rare risk of blood clot.
"After additional review, analysis and scrutiny, experts have concluded the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe, effective and will protect you against the COVID-19 virus," Newsom sad in a statement. "To date, about a million Californians have already received this vaccine – including myself and many of the state's top doctors. I encourage all Californians to trust the science, getting vaccinated is the best way to protect ourselves and our loved ones and end the pandemic."
Across the Bay Area, health officials said they intended to follow the governor's orders.
"Currently, the city has 700 doses of the Johnson & Johnson, which will be rolled out in a variety of clinical settings starting next week," San Francisco health officials said. "To date, we have administered more than 33,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to SF residents."
Alameda County also will resume administering the vaccine.
"Alameda County and City of Berkeley will align with other Bay Area counties and will plan to resume the use of our modest, existing supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as quickly as possible," county health officials said in a news release. "We recognize that rebuilding confidence in the vaccine may require additional time and education."