By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) stock was trading weaker in Tuesday’s premarket, after cases of adverse reaction in patients who had been administered the company’s Covid-19 jab emerged, forcing the U.S. authorities to pause the vaccination at various sites.
A joint statement issued Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA said they were reviewing data of a rare and severe type of blood clot in six women days after they were vaccinated. One of the six died, while another is in hospital in a critical condition.
“We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,” the Food and Drug Administration said in a tweet.
J&J stock was down 2.6% by 8 AM ET in response.
It’s a big setback for the company and a troubling one for the country's vaccination campaign. The fact that J&J's vaccine only needs a single shot, rather than the two required by Pfizer 's (NYSE:PFE) and Moderna’s, means that it's a faster way to immunize more people.
As of Monday, more than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine had been administered in the U.S.