Janssen Pause

These blogs advocate caution and skepticism, specifically in response to the COVID pandemic, but more generally in response to all “scientific” proclamations.  Don’t “follow the science” blindly.  Instead use your “smell test” before believing anything labelled as science.  Remember that science does not prove reality.  Instead, science proves what is not real.  We know much less than we would like to believe.

The sudden “pause” in vaccine rollout announced last week by Janssen is a case in point.  The pause follows reports of six cases of unusual blood clots following administration of the vaccine, tragically including one death.   

These unusual blood clots are called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST, a condition which blocks the flow of blood out of the brain.  As a result, the blood vessels may burst causing a stroke which may permanently damage brain tissue.  So far, all patients are women under 50 years old with low platelet counts.   

An association between COVID-19 and CVST was noted before the Janssen vaccine was released.  In the August 2020 edition of the American Journal of Neuroradiology, Dr. D. D. Cavalcanti and associates reported three COVID-19 patients under 41 years old who developed CVST; all three patients died.  Others have reported similar associations between CVST and SARS-CoV-2 infection.  

This raises several questions.  Can CVST be caused by COVID-19?  Can CVST be caused by the Janssen vaccine? What about the mRNA vaccines?  And how is it that a vaccine causes a complication of the disease it’s meant to prevent?  Furthermore, six instances of CVST out of 6.8 million doses of the Janssen vaccine administered is a complication rate of less than 1 in 1,000,000.   The rate of anaphylaxis associated with the mRNA vaccines is 10 times as high.  Why so much concern for such a rare complication?

Something doesn’t smell right to me.