Belgium suspended the usage of the Jonson-Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. This step was taken by Belgium when a woman died after getting a jab of the Johnson-Johnson vaccine.
The vaccine was suspended for people under the age of 41.
The Belgian government stated that it was seeking urgent advice from the European Medicines Agency, the European Union’s drug regulator before it would think of lifting the suspension. The government also said that the influence on the national vaccination drive would be very limited.
Belgium was using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for the elderly with reduced mobility and the homeless since it only takes one shot to be protected. Those shots will be continued.
The government said that it took the step after a single case “where there were serious side effects after administering the Janssen vaccine,”. Janssen is being used as the local name for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
It said a woman was jabbed by her foreign employer outside the Belgian system and had died in Belgium last week after facing “serious thrombosis and reduced blood platelets.”
The Belgian government didn’t give much information about the patient, beyond saying she was under 40.