Doctors are stressing the chance of getting blood clots from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine appears to be very rare.The U.S. on Tuesday recommended a "pause" in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots, a development that could jeopardize the rollout of vaccines around the world."Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare," FDA and CDC doctors said in a joint statement about the pause. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced that they were investigating unusual clots that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. The FDA commissioner said she expected the pause to last a matter of days.Dr. Anthony Fauci says Americans who've recently received a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine shouldn't be anxious about the "pause."The nation's top infectious disease expert says, "It's less than one in a million." Fauci adds people should "pay attention" to symptoms associated with the blood clots, particularly between one and three weeks after the shot.Mississippi Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the condition is extremely rare and those who have already received the J&J shot should not worry.Doctors with the federal health departments said people who have received the J&J vaccine "who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider."More than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine, which is also known as the Janssen vaccine, have been administered as of Monday in the U.S., according to the CDC.The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not affected. Dr. Geoffrey Barnes, cardiologist and vascular medicine specialist in Michigan, said there has not been a sign of blood clot risk with those vaccines."It's important to note that we do not yet know if there is a real risk of clotting associated with the J&J/Janssen vaccine," Barnes said on a University of Michigan Health System website. "So far, there are very few reported cases (six) despite millions of doses administered."Barnes said it's wise to be putting the vaccine on pause and that the clots seem to be quite rare.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"The risk of blood clots in patients with COVID is far higher than the very small risk of a blood clot following a COVID-19 vaccine," Barnes said. "Overall, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination greatly outweigh the very small risks."Barnes said doctors are aware of the condition and have the tools to diagnose and treat patients if it occurs. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the pause will help give physicians insight for treating people to know if a treatment should be avoided. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are meeting Friday to discuss how to move forward with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen coronavirus vaccine.The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and to vote on updated recommendations for use of the vaccine and whether it's likely to be linked to a rare blood clotting syndrome they're calling thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).Other groups have called it vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia or VITT, but the committee is sticking with more neutral language that doesn't presume vaccines are causing the condition.It's characterized by a rare type of blood clot in the brain — and possibly other large blood clots — along with a low number of blood-clotting cells called platelets. Some blood specialists have said they believe it's caused by an unusual immune reaction that targets platelets, causing them to glob together into clots.The committee will hear about any additional cases reported since their last meeting earlier in the month. The cases of six women who suffered TTS, including one who died, prompted CDC and the Food and Drug Administration to recommend a pause in giving the vaccine. Committee members said they needed more time and more information before deciding on whether and how to change recommendations for giving the vaccine.They'll hear about at least one more case. Oregon health officials said Thursday night they were investigating the case of a woman in her 50s who died after having received the vaccine and who had symptoms of TTS."We are very much encouraged by the fact that our safety reporting systems are working," Dr. Shimi Sharief, senior health adviser with Oregon's health authority, told reporters in a briefing. She noted the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing and killing people."This is still extremely rare," she said -- noting that seven cases of blood clots had been reported out of nearly seven million J&J vaccines given, and two of those cases had been fatal.They'll hear from a blood clot expert — Dr. Michael Streiff of Johns Hopkins University, who is likely to brief on what's known how to treat TTS. Reports indicate blood thinners, with the exception of a commonly used blood thinner called heparin — will help dissolve the clots, and use of an immune product called IVIG can help neutralize the mistaken immune response.The committee will also hear from two officials of Johnson & Johnson. Members of committee will consider the potential risks of the vaccine as opposed to the risk of catching coronavirus. Blood clot specialists have told CNN the risk of developing blood clots of all sorts from coronavirus infection are much higher than the risks seen in people who got the vaccine.AstraZeneca's vaccine has been linked to TTS as well. The World Health Organization and European medical regulators have said the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not yet authorized in the U.S., outweigh any potential risks.Earlier this week, Dr. William Schaffner, a non-voting committee member and infectious diseases professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told CNN that the committee could recommend that use of the vaccine resume with no changes, or the committee could recommend that the U.S. stop using the J&J vaccine altogether.Schaffner said it's more likely that the committee will recommend that use of the vaccine resume with a warning about possible adverse effects — and potentially, advice to the highest-risk populations to steer clear of this vaccine altogether.