Why the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is on pause

[View this email in your browser]( [Open Ars Technica in your browser]( It's hard to not feel a dreadful sense of deja vu here in Spring 2021. COVID-19 is surging again, both abroad and in certain parts of the US. And in the same week officer Derek Chauvin stands trial for his role in the death of George Floyd, Minneapolis yet again serves as the setting for an instance of police shooting and killing an unarmed Black man. That reality is simply brutal, and it would be whether or not we were all still largely confined to our homes. There remains a lot of work needed to address the state of police violence in the US. And humanity has not made it to the other side of this concurrent global pandemic, either. The situation in Europe remains quite uncertain. The AstraZeneca vaccine has been [officially linked to a rare form of blood clots]( by EU regulators, a situation which throws the fate of that vaccine supply into question as the region battles its latest surge. And the EU's other unique vaccine option, Russia's Sputnik, has been [questioned by Slovakia]( (which spurred some anger from Moscow). In the US despite progress being made with vaccinations, certain areas are pushing to reopen faster than may be safe, in activities as superfluous as [cruise ships]( in fact. We're at yet another trying moment in a year-plus full of them. This week (and any week, really), do what you need to in order to care for yourself emotionally and physically. When you're ready to reengage with what's happening in society at large, this week's Orbital Transmission is here to catch you up on the latest must-read COVID-19 updates, from yesterday's surprise Johnson & Johnson situation to some quiet good news continuing to build momentum. Stay safe, all, and good luck making those vaccine appointments. —[Nathan Mattise]( Dealmaster's Deal of the Week Dealmaster's Deal of the Week Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (8GB, refurbished) for $70 at Amazon (normally $110) If you're in the market for a new e-reader and don't mind buying refurbished, this deal is among the lowest prices we've seen [for our top pick](, Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite. [$70 at Amazon]( Orbital Transmission 04.14.2021 Orbital Transmission 04.14.2021 [(image) ]( The J&J vax has an extremely rare clotting issue; the pause is so doctors can be ready to treat it [Read Full Story »]( The J&J vax has an extremely rare clotting issue; the pause is so doctors can be ready to treat it The ramifications will be complicated: appointments delayed or canceled; misinformation and confusion about why this happened; and perhaps some (misplaced) increase in vaccine skepticism. But the FDA and CDC pressed pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Tuesday morning after acknowledging that an extremely rare clotting disorder was associated with its use. The problem is actually less than a one-in-a-million issue (in data from the US, there have been 6 cases in 6.8 million doses of this vaccine), but these particular clots call for an unusual treatment. And in light of that, these health organizations are calling for a pause in administering the shot to ensure the medical community is aware of the appropriate treatment. The cause of all this remains an open question, but the scientific community is turning its attention to [an adenovirus vector](, a viral delivery system used regularly in vaccine development. [Read Full Story »]( [(image) ]( Vaccines take time to help, so Michigan needs other solutions [Read Full Story »]( Vaccines take time to help, so Michigan needs other solutions The epicenter for whatever wave this is in the US is Michigan, where the state's seven-day average for new daily cases is over 7,377 and they've experienced a 400 percent surge in cases since March. The state government has been lobbying for more vaccine supply, but this week the CDC delivered some hard truth. "We know that if vaccines go in arms today, we will not see an effect of those vaccines, depending on the vaccine, for somewhere between two to six weeks,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Monday. "When you have an acute situation, [an] extraordinary number of cases like we have in Michigan, the answer is not necessarily to give vaccine. The answer to that is to really close things down, to go back to our basics, to go back to where we were last spring, last summer and to shut things down, to flatten the curve." [Read Full Story »]( [(image) ]( The vaccines are at least kicking butt, likely even against COVID-19 variants [Read Full Story »]( The vaccines are at least kicking butt, likely even against COVID-19 variants This month we learned that, in a small trial, the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine fully protected people from symptomatic COVID-19 caused by the worrisome B.1.351 coronavirus variant widely circulating in South Africa. It was the high water mark in a quietly great streak of news for the Pfizer vaccine: the CDC released real-world data showing that this vaccine and the Moderna vaccine were, collectively, 90 percent effective at preventing infections in fully vaccinated health care, frontline, and essential workers. Pfizer and BioNtech then announced that their vaccine was highly effective in adolescents 12- to 15-years old—not just the adult part of the population. And lastly the company shared the latest monitoring data on people vaccinated in a Phase III trial that suggests the vaccine is still 91 percent effective at preventing symptomatic disease up to six months after the second dose (longer efficacy than was previously established). A lot of this requires more data and research, but the positive signs alongside growing vaccination numbers could point towards some relief on the horizon. [Read Full Story »]( [(image) ]( See the #1 Expense Management Software—and get $50 [Read Full Story »]( See the #1 Expense Management Software—and get $50 We’ve combined seamless expense management software with the world’s smartest business card. Have 21+ employees? 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