Blood Clots Risk, Denmark Cancels Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Use

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine. (Source: northwell.edu)

JAKARTA - Danish health authorities announced the cancellation of the use of the COVID-19 vaccine alerted by Johnson & Johnson, Monday May 3 local time.

"The Danish Health Authority has concluded that the benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson do not outweigh the risk of causing a possible side effect, VITT, in those who receive the vaccine," said the statement.

"Therefore, the Health Authority will continue Denmark's mass vaccination program against COVID-19 without Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine," the statement continued.

Health authorities admit that it is not easy to make this decision. Moreover, last month Denmark also officially canceled the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca.

"Taking into account the current situation in Denmark, what is currently missing in our efforts to prevent severe disease from COVID-19 cannot outweigh the risk of causing possible side effects in the form of severe blood clots in those we vaccinate," the statement said. .

"This decision will significantly affect the rollout of vaccinations for people between the ages of 20 and 39, which will be delayed by up to four weeks. The remaining target groups will experience a delay of about one week, as we will be getting another vaccine in large quantities," the statement continued. .

According to Our World in Data, more than 1.3 million of Denmark's 5.8 million population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine until May 1, 2021

To note, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, also known as Janssen, received approval from the European Medicine Agency (EMA), to become the fourth COVID-19 vaccine that can be used in the European Union region. Previously, EMA had approved the COVD-19 vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech, AstraZeneca / Oxford University and Moderna.

However, Johnson & Johnson delayed delivery of its vaccine to the European Union, after reports of serious blood clots emerged in the United States. There are more than 6.8 million people who have received at least one injection.

EMA launched its review last month. As a result, the EMA believes that the benefits of vaccines in preventing COVID-19 are greater, compared to the risk of side effects.

Prior to Johnson & Johnson, cases of blood clots also caused AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to be dropped from a number of countries, including Denmark and Norway. Meanwhile, a number of other countries decided to use the vaccine for older age groups.