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'We take this seriously.' Governor Whitmer weighs in on J&J COVID vaccine pause recommendation

Posted at 9:04 AM, Apr 13, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-13 18:26:31-04

(WXYZ) — Speaking to 7 Action News this morning, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer weighed in on the recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine.

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In a series of tweets Tuesday morning, the FDA said it was recommending a pause after receiving reports that six people developed "rare and severe" blood clots after receiving the vaccine.

“Certainly, that’s an unfortunate development. We’re going to watch it very closely, we’re going to put safety first, and follow the FDA and the CDC guidance," said Gov. Whitmer.

She also said it was important to put the numbers in perspective.

"The most current things that I saw with regard to the J&J vaccine is that there were 6 or 7 cases and they’ve distributed 6.8 million doses in the country. It’s a very small number, I’m not minimizing it. We take this seriously and we’ll follow the federal guidance. But it just shows that this is an important tool and if this tool is not in our tool box we’re going to need more help on the other fronts and I’m going to keep fighting for Michigan to get that help.”

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