As of Monday, April 12 the Center for Disease Control has released a statement that places a pause on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine that was being distributed by the Johnson & Johnson Company. The pause comes after a handful of women developed life-threatening blood clots and required immediate medical care. Even though this appears to be a rare occurrence, this also comes on the brink of the United Kingdom’s discovery that their AstraZeneca vaccine had also been a contributing factor to blood clots in patients in the U.K.

Those six women that developed blood clots in the United States due to the injection of the Johnson & Johnson Co.’s vaccine were between the ages of 18 and 48 and say that they began to experience the blood clots anywhere from six to 13 days upon injection. Roughly around seven million people have currently been vaccinated against COVID-19 with this vaccine.

While it is incredibly rare for these types of blood clots to develop, the CDC’s issue of pausing comes at a time for examination of why it is only affected women in this way and young women at that. The AstraZeneca vaccine is said to have been linked to “62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), which is clotting in the sinuses that drain blood from the brain, and 24 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis, or clotting in the abdomen, in people who had received the shot as of March 22. Of those cases – reported from an area where around 25 million people total had received the AstraZeneca vaccine at that point – 18 were fatal,” according to CNN.

Even though the odds are close to literally being one in a million, it is still probably a better idea to withhold more of the vaccines before more cases of blood clots arise. As of now, the Moderna and Pfizer two-dose vaccine shot states that their side effects are mostly fatigue, nausea or flu-like symptoms, but nothing blood clot related has been noted with these other vaccines.

By taking these precautions with our vaccines, we will be able to see our students, faculty and staff vaccinated safely for the coming fall semester.