{"id":122038,"date":"2021-04-20T21:32:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T21:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=122038"},"modified":"2021-04-20T21:32:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T21:32:34","slug":"jj-to-cooperate-in-study-of-rare-clots-linked-to-covid-19-vaccine-german-scientist-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/jj-to-cooperate-in-study-of-rare-clots-linked-to-covid-19-vaccine-german-scientist-says\/","title":{"rendered":"J&J to cooperate in study of rare clots linked to COVID-19 vaccine, German scientist says"},"content":{"rendered":"
ZURICH (Reuters) – A German scientist studying extremely rare blood clots linked to AstraZeneca\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine said on Tuesday Johnson & Johnson has agreed to work with him on the research after similar serious side effects emerged in recipients of its shot.<\/p> Andreas Greinacher, a transfusion medicine expert at Greifswald University, announced the collaboration after the European Medicines Agency said it would add a label to J&J\u2019s vaccine warning of unusual blood clots with low platelet counts. AstraZeneca\u2019s shot has a similar warning.<\/p>\n As with AstraZeneca, the EMA said benefits of getting J&J\u2019s shot still outweigh the clotting risk, a position Greinacher backs, too.<\/p>\n Greinacher, who on Tuesday released a new paper here offering a potential explanation for the complications, wants J&J vaccine samples to study in his lab. Since mid-March his team has been analyzing specimens from people who suffered clots after getting AstraZeneca’s shot.<\/p>\n \u201cWe agreed today with (J&J) that we will work together,\u201d Greinacher said during a news conference. \u201cMy biggest need, which I\u2019ve expressed to the company, is I would like to get access to the vaccine, because the J&J vaccine is not available in Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson & Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The EMA said on Tuesday it suspects the vaccine may trigger an unwanted immune response, but safety committee chairwoman Sabine Straus said it has not identified specific risk factors.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be very helpful if we know beforehand, whether it might be some kind of genetic disorder, or something else in the blood vessels,\u201d Straus told reporters.<\/p>\n Greinacher does not believe such a prognostic test is likely, based on experience with a similar disorder called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia that has defied efforts to identify why some people may be predisposed to the serious condition.<\/p>\n \u201cWe even completely gene-sequenced 3,000 of these patients, and we couldn\u2019t find a genetic predisposition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In Greinacher\u2019s new, not yet peer-reviewed, paper he suggests the technology behind AstraZeneca\u2019s shot, some of its ingredients and the powerful immune reaction it induces, may contribute to a cascade of events that overpowers numerous mechanisms that normally keep the human immune system under control.<\/p>\n Both the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines use a common cold virus, albeit different ones, to ferry coronavirus proteins to cells to produce an immune response.<\/p>\n \u201cIndividuals are different, and only if by coincidence, nine or 10 weaknesses are coming together, then we have a (problem),\u201d Greinacher said. \u201cOtherwise, our in-built security systems block it, and keep us safe.\u201d<\/p>\n