According to RTV Slovenia (and multiple other sources), Slovenia is considering suspending use of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine after an incident involving a 20-year old woman. While initial reports had claimed the woman had died a few weeks after receiving the vaccine, UKC Ljubljana then clarified that woman remains alive, although in a critical condition.
The case has been referred to the NIJZ (National Institute of Public Health) as indicating a possible side effect of the vaccine. UKC Ljubljana stressed that while no direct link has been found, there’s a reasonable suspicion of a causal link between the vaccination and the woman’s stroke.
So far just under 120,000 people have received the Janssen vaccine in Slovenia. One other woman under 50 was previously reported as suffering from a serious complication after receiving the vaccine in Slovenia, and she then recovered. In contrast, the wife of a Slovenian diplomat who received the Janssen vaccine in Brussels in May died shortly after, with the investigating commission concluding a direct connection between the events.
The head of Slovenia’s vaccine advisory group, Bojana Beović, responded to the news of the latest incident by saying that despite the low level of risk she personally favoured suspending the use of the Janssen vaccine.
News of the young woman’s cases came on the same day Slovenia announced that it has purchased an additional 100,000 doses of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine from Hungary.
