U.S. and European health officials are scrutinizing the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and AstraZeneca COVID vaccines for possibly causing blood clots and related blood disorders in vaccine recipients.
But evidence is mounting that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines cause similar adverse reactions — and U.S. regulatory officials were alerted to that fact as far back as December 2020.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday convened an emergency meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to determine whether to lift a ban on the J&J vaccine. The ban was put in place Tuesday, after reports of blood clots.
During the meeting, committee members hailed the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines as great alternatives to the J&J vaccine because there were “no safety signals” — suggesting, unlike the J&J and AstraZeneca adenovirus-based vaccines, mRNA vaccines are not associated with blood clots.
On Tuesday, Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said on a call with reporters there had been no reported cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with thrombocytopenia (low blood platelets that can cause dangerous internal bleeding) following Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
But Mark’s statement contradicts numerous news reports, recent studies and even a scientist’s warning directed specifically to Marks late last year — it also contradicts data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
Utilizing a search criteria that included reports of blood clots associated with blood coagulation disorders, VAERS yielded a total of 795 reports for all three vaccines from Dec. 14, 2020 through April 1, 2021.
Of the 795 cases reported, there were 400 reports attributed to Pfizer, 337 reports with Moderna and 56 reports with J&J — far more than the eight cases under investigation, including the two additional cases added Wednesday.
Study released today links Pfizer, Moderna to blood clots
A study released today by Oxford University found the number of people who developed CVST blood clots after COVID vaccines was about the same for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, MarketWatch reported. (J&J is not approved for use in the EU, where the study originated).
According to the study, 4 in 1 million people experienced CVST during the two weeks following vaccination with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, versus 5 in 1 million people for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Although researchers found a significantly higher incidence of blood clots in people who were infected with COVID, the incidence of blood clots following vaccines was still much higher than the background incidence of 0.41, a strong signal that the vaccines pose this specific risk.
“These findings are consistent with what we know about how vaccine-induced spike proteins can on their own cause cell signaling through interactions with the ACE-2 receptors,” said Lyn Redwood, RN, MSN, president emerita of Children’s Health Defense. “When this happens, it can result in inflammation and a host of other potentially pathological events in the epithelial lining of the blood vessels which can then trigger pro-inflammatory cytokines capable of activating coagulation systems and down-regulating anticoagulant pathways resulting in clot formation.”
A study published February in the Journal of Hematology examined thrombocytopenia following Pfizer and Moderna vaccination in response to the death of a 56-year-old Florida physician — the first identified patient who died from a brain hemorrhage after receiving Pfizer’s vaccine.
Researchers examined 20 case reports of patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) following vaccination, including 17 without pre‐existing thrombocytopenia using data from the CDC, FDA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), published reports, and communications with patients and treating providers.
After analyzing data researchers could not exclude the possibility that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines had the potential to trigger ITP and recommended additional surveillance to determine the incidence of thrombocytopenia post vaccination.
“While the main concern associated with ITP is bleeding, it may come as a surprise that ITP is also associated with a 20% increased risk for blood clots,” Redwood said, pointing to a March 8 article by Dr. Robert Bird, director of haematology at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia.
Physicians weigh in on how vaccines might lead to blood clots
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) said in an April 5 press release all three vaccines approved for emergency use in the U.S. (Pfizer, Moderna and J&J) cause human cells to manufacture the spike protein, which then induces the immune system to make antibodies to that protein.
When a vaccinated person is then exposed to the virus, the immune system will recognize the threat and mount a defense that should at least minimize symptoms.
The spike protein is just a fragment of a virus, so it — or the mRNA that codes for it — cannot cause an infection. However, there are questions about whether the spike protein itself can cause harm as it binds to tissue receptors, AAPS explained.
AAPS physicians and scientists informed the FDA that mRNA products, through spike proteins, may have “the potential to cause microvascular injury [inflammation and small blood clots called microthrombi] to the brain, heart, liver and kidneys in ways that were not assessed in the safety trials.”The FDA has not responded.
At least 37 people have developed a rare platelet disorder after receiving the Pfizer or Moderna shot, including 56-year-old Florida obstetrician Gregory Michael who developed the disorder three days after receiving the Pfizer product and died 15 days after being vaccinated, AAPS said.
On April 13, Dr. Hooman Noorchashm, a physician-scientist and advocate for ethics who specializes in cardiothoracic surgery, joined Tucker Carlson on his show to discuss blood clots and vaccines.
Noorchashm explained that although it’s a good sign the FDA is taking blood clot complications with J&J seriously, it is missing similar thrombotic complications with Pfizer and Moderna
“I don’t know why this cluster is sort of affecting J&J. There are certainly other examples of thrombotic events with Pfizer and Moderna that have been entered into the VAERS system,” Noorchashm said.
