Parkland's Chief Medical Officer Says Those Who've Received J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Shouldn't Worry
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A federal advisory group says it needs more time to weigh the risks of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after six women developed an extremely rare kind of blood clot.
Nearly 7 million people have received the vaccine.
The vaccine was put on pause Tuesday, April 13, across the country following recommendations to do so by the CDC and the FDA.
The CDC advisory committee met Wednesday, April 14, but said they still need more time to look at the data before voting on recommendations.
Meanwhile, the CDC is looking into the incidents and looking into whether there may be additional cases.
CBS 11 talked to Dr. Joseph Chang, the Chief Medical Officer at Parkland Health and Hospital System.
He said the risk isn't something that should make you question getting a vaccine.
"This particular kind of blood clot, in folks just walking around on the street, occurs at a rate of about three in a million," he said. "Note the difference there. It is actually more common for people walking around on the street to spontaneously get this problem than those who have gotten a vaccine."
The six cases come out of nearly seven million doses of the vaccine.
Dr. Chang also noted that the vast majority of the supply in North Texas is coming from Pfizer and Moderna, and there's no link to this same issue with those vaccines.