Claim: The recent pause of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. has led many people to believe that the vaccine causes blood clots.
Rating: This claim is MOSTLY FALSE. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending a pause on the J&J vaccine does not mean that the vaccine is unsafe. While 15 people who have received the vaccine developed a rare form of blood clot, the CDC did not say that the J&J vaccine causes blood clots. The pause was recommended “out of an abundance of caution,” to figure out what caused the clots, and how doctors should treat patients who develop these clots. Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that the risk of getting a blood clot from the J&J vaccine is less than one in a million. Patients are more likely to get blood clots from COVID-19, or from taking certain medications, such as birth control. On April 23, the CDC reapproved the J&J vaccine for public use, saying the benefits outweigh the risk.
