Coronavirus Updates: FDA plans to add new warning to J&J shot

July 13, 2021

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Important developments in the pandemic.

By Ben Guarino
with Lindsey Bever

The Post's coronavirus coverage linked in this newsletter is free to access from this email.

The latest

Anthony S. Fauci, chief coronavirus medical adviser to the White House, argued over the weekend for additional coronavirus vaccine mandates. Though Fauci said the federal government will not issue a mandate, the doctor said he believed there should be more vaccine requirements at a local level. The pandemic remains a "life-and-death" situation, Fauci told CNN on Sunday. He added that vaccine hesitancy in "very highly ideological" communities, referring to comparatively low rates of immunization among Republicans, will cost lives.

The Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine has been linked to a rare side effect, the immune system disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome. Of 12.8 million J&J doses administered in the United States, there have been about 100 cases of this, according to preliminary reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food and Drug Administration plans to add a warning about Guillain-Barré to the J&J vaccine, four people familiar with the situation told The Washington Post.

Amid the pandemic the U.S. government spent at least $5.2 trillion on everything from stimulus checks to farmer payments to the Paycheck Protection Program. Reporter Andrew Van Dam addresses a looming question: After this massive stimulus, what's next for the economy? Gross domestic product will be higher as a result of this aggressive response, he writes, but the Congressional Budget Office expects growth to slow dramatically after the post-pandemic boom.

When it comes to access to food, the coronavirus pandemic has made the world a less equal place. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates global hunger increased in 2020 by 118 million people, reaching a level higher than in at least 15 years. Those in the developing world fared much worse than those in North America and Europe.

"The developed world had the advantage of being formal economies, where if you do a lockdown, people have access to unemployment insurance or social aid," said Máximo Torero Cullen, the U.N. food agency's chief economist. "That did not happen in much of the developing world. You saw a middle class move into poverty and the poor move into severe food insecurity."

An invisible population lives in Europe that's not getting vaccinated at the same rates as other residents: Undocumented immigrants have some of the lowest vaccination rates on the continent, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Those immigrants are also at greater risk of infections than overall European populations. Administrative barriers and a history of hostile policies toward undocumented immigrants are a few of the hurdles between this population and coronavirus vaccines.

Other important news

The Tokyo Olympics will begin later this month, and the circumstances couldn't be more unusual: These are the 2020 Games in 2021. Officials won't permit fans. Many Japan residents oppose hosting them. To make sure you don't miss any developments, sign up for The Post's Tokyo Olympics pop-up newsletter here.

Despite being fully vaccinated with the Chinese-developed Sinovac vaccine, 618 Thai medical workers have been infected by the coronavirus.

On Sunday demonstrators flooded the streets in Cuba – the country's largest protest in decades – challenging their government's response to energy blackouts, food shortages and coronavirus outbreaks.

Israel, whose population is among the most vaccinated in the world, is now offering a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine to immunocompromised adults. New cases, particularly infections from the delta variant, have increased there recently.

This 44-year-old Air Force veteran, who lost his home and job in the pandemic, got vaccinated – and won free D.C. Metro rides for a year.

Guide to the pandemic

Track confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. and the spread around the world.

U.S. vaccine distribution and delivery, tracked by state.

Guides: Finding vaccine appointments | Vaccines | Variants | Masks

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Your questions, answered

"A local fitness studio I belong to recently reopened. I have an autoimmune disease, so I have concerns about going back into the studio, even though I am vaccinated. Realistically, is it safe for a vaccinated person with a compromised immune system to start working out again at an indoor fitness studio?" — Patricia in California

Because there are many types of immune system issues and no two patients are exactly alike, we can't tell you whether it's safe for you. But this is certainly something you could bring up with your doctor.

What we can tell you is that vaccination is still the top recommendation for people with compromised immune systems, which is especially important now that the highly contagious delta variant is dominant in many parts of the United States. And you've been vaccinated.

The question is whether you mounted a robust response from the vaccine. Some immunocompromised people do. But your individual case could depend on a number of factors, including whether you are taking immunosuppressant medications to help manage your condition.

You can, however, continue taking precautions to better protect yourself against covid-19. While federal health officials no longer recommend masking for people who are fully vaccinated, Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's leading infectious-disease expert, recently said individuals may assess their risk based on their circumstances. People with underlying health issues, for example, might choose to keep wearing a mask.

William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, said those with compromised immune responses should still practice social distancing, wear masks and avoid crowds, particularly indoors. "Those things continue to pertain to these highly susceptible people," he said.

Schaffner said it's also important for immunocompromised people to get tested if they experience symptoms, particularly as flu season rolls around, so they can get appropriate treatment.

Eventually, there may be alternative ways to try to boost the immune system, such as boosters or high-dose shots, as well as other treatments. Several companies that make laboratory-designed monoclonal antibodies have been looking into whether they may be used as a preventative measure. AstraZeneca is running a worldwide clinical trial to determine, at least in part, whether they would protect people who are at "increased risk of inadequate response to vaccination."

In the end, this is a decision that only you can make — taking into consideration your personal health, how busy your gym is and whether your gym still requires customers to take any precautions.