Reports of blood clots reduce investor confidence in the third vaccine.

At the start of trading today, the Dow Jones average dropped slightly, losing 0.3% of its value. Despite upward trends in major companies like Microsoft, Boeing, and Tesla before this dip, the market was overall stable. The decline in the Dow was primarily influenced by a single factor that had significant implications on consumer sentiment: pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.

Johnson & Johnson introduced the third effective COVID-19 vaccine following Moderna and Pfizer. The rollout of its single-shot vaccine played a crucial role in the mass-inoculation efforts in the United States. However, confidence in this vaccine wavered today when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) jointly announced a pause in the distribution and administration of Johnson & Johnson vaccines. This decision was prompted by reports of potentially life-threatening blood clots in individuals who had received the vaccine.

One of the initial tweets in this series of announcements stated, “Today FDA and @CDCgov issued a statement regarding the Johnson & Johnson #COVID19 vaccine. We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution.”

As of 4/12, over 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S. CDC & FDA are reviewing data on 6 reported U.S. cases of a rare & severe type of blood clot in individuals post vaccine. Currently, these adverse events seem to be highly unusual.

— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) April 13, 2021

Specifically, there have been reports of six cases of blood clots among individuals vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson shot. All six cases involved women aged between 18 and 48 years. Tragically, one individual has died due to a blood clot, and another is currently receiving emergency medical care. While the FDA and CDC emphasize that such reactions are extremely rare and possibly linked to underlying health conditions rather than the vaccine itself, the decision to pause distribution was made as a precautionary measure. Consequently, Johnson & Johnson’s stock value fell by 3% following this recommendation.