Johnson & Johnson vaccine under surveillance: should we be concerned?

The European Medicines Agency is investigating four suspected cases of blood clots in the Americas, while the Johnson & Johnson serum has yet to be administered in any EU country.

Incidents which may make one think of thrombosis which occurred after injections of the Astrazeneca vaccine. 

DECRYPTION

Authorized on March 11 by the European Commission, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against Covid-19 has not yet been injected in any EU country.

But the European Medicines Agency is already investigating four suspected cases of thrombosis, including one fatal, in the Americas.

Should we be worried?

Europe 1 takes stock of what we know about the cases identified.

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A vector "of the same type" as AstraZeneca

The European Medicines Agency is looking to find out more about these blood clots, which can be reminiscent of thromboses that have occurred, exceptionally, after injections of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Because these two vaccines have one thing in common: they use a viral vector, that is to say a virus rendered harmless, which allows fragments of the DNA of SARS-CoV-2 to be transported inside the body. 'organization.

But for now, it's hard to draw any conclusions.

"The vectors developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are of the same type, so it is normal to wonder", explains to Europe 1 professor Jean Daniel Lelièvre, head of the infectious diseases department at the Henri Mondor hospital in Créteil.

"However, they are still different vectors, it is not the same type of anellovirus (a family of viruses,

editor's note

), so that does not mean that they will give the same type of problem."

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Less than one case per million injections

At this stage, it is therefore advisable to be careful, according to the specialist.

Five million people have already received this vaccine from Johnson and Johnson worldwide, and we are talking about only four cases including one death reported.

The report is less than one case of thrombosis per million injections….

This corresponds for the moment to the number of cases of thrombosis in the general population in the absence of vaccination.