Has anyone checked Johnson & Johnson stocks?

The Jersey based company that came up with the third COVID vaccine approved for emergency use in the United States is really taking it on the chin this week. First there was the report of a New Jersey man who took the one-and-done vaccine then began feeling sick five weeks later, long after he'd be considered fully vaccinated. It's reported he is now in critical condition with COVID-19 complications, pneumonia, despite having been vaccinated.

Then the CDC and the FDA came out with recommendations to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after 6 cases of severe and rare blood clots forming in women aged 18-49. Symptoms in these 6 cases emerged from 6 days to 13 days after they received the shot.

There has been no determination yet that there's any causal relation, but they're being cautious and calling for further investigation to be sure it's safe to resume.

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This is the same shot I received more than a month ago. Some 6.8 million Americans have already received it and well over 200,000 New Jerseyans. Am I worried? Not a bit. Is there a connection? I don't know. If there is, as of now it would be a less than a one in a million incident, yet naysayers will latch onto this with the hellfire of "I told you so!"

And they may be right. We just don't know yet. What we DO know is that this was well-tested in trials, and millions have received it without anything serious happening to them. If there IS a connection, yes, let's find out. It's smart to pause the use. And it also should show just how responsible the health industry is being regarding vaccines.

If anything it ought to be reassuring to the public that recipients of the vaccine are being watched so closely and things like this taken seriously no matter how few in number. It ought to result in even more trust in the vaccine programs.

But it won't.

Already there are those claiming more than 2,700 people have died after taking a COVID vaccine. But zero proof is being offered as to a relationship.

A tracking system at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gathers reports of deaths occurring after COVID-19 vaccines are administered, but so far there is nothing to suggest the vaccine was the cause.

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, logged 2,794 deaths among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine as of April 5. But there's no time limit to how many days or weeks later following vaccination a report can be made and it does not give you any idea of what caused the deaths.

With so many millions of people getting vaccinated so quickly it's not statistically unusual for a small number of them to have died from other things. But it's being looked into. It's all being investigated.

Those who say "mainstream media is fear mongering" are the first ones to fear monger by throwing these numbers around and drawing unscientific conclusions. Take a deep breath. There may be a link. There may be nothing. I trust they will do their best to figure it out.

With COVID deaths in America nearing 600,000 the medical experts are doing their best to handle this new virus with the introduction of vaccines and continued advice. They've needed to learn as they go.

Like I said, I received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine more than a month ago and I'm glad I did. If there are long-term consequences, I'll know I followed the best recommendations science had at the time. I still choose science over memes and experts over social media.

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