When the Food and Drug Administration suddenly pulled the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine from distribution over concerns about very rare blood clotting, many people were worried the FDA’s decision would have a far-reaching effect on the public’s trust in the vaccine. It turns out they were right.
A new poll found that only one in four people not yet immunized against the coronavirus say they would be willing to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and fewer than half of U.S. adults now say they consider the Johnson & Johnson vaccine very or somewhat safe. In comparison, more than seven in 10 people said they regard the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to be very or somewhat safe.
This is horrible news for the vaccination effort. We have more than 9 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines ready to go now that the FDA has lifted its pause, but only 25% of the unvaccinated public is willing to get them. And the FDA is entirely to blame.
There was no good reason to pull the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The risk of blood clotting from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is so minimal that there’s a better chance you will experience blood clotting from the coronavirus itself than from this vaccine. But for some reason, the FDA decided that six reported cases of blood clots out of the 6.8 million vaccine doses administered was enough reason to hit the brakes — even if doing so created widespread distrust later on.
Of course, we want health officials to make certain that these vaccines are safe, especially because they are experimental in nature. But in this case, the benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine far outweigh the potential risks, and there hasn’t been any reason so far to think otherwise. The Johnson & Johnson shots are easier to distribute to people who are homebound, live long distances from vaccination sites, or are generally reluctant to get a COVID-19 vaccine because they only require one dose. (Moderna and Pfizer require two doses separated by a few weeks.)
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is also highly effective. In its clinical trials, researchers found that the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing people from being hospitalized or dying from the coronavirus.
Now, the government has made sure that millions of people will not get this life-saving vaccine because of the doubt our federal regulators have sown. So the next time one of our government leaders wonders why the vaccination effort has hit a wall, remember this — because they’re the reason why.
