J&J, AstraZeneca explore COVID vaccine changes due to clots: WSJ

Researchers from Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are working with other scientists to see if modifying their COVID-19 vaccines could reduce or eliminate the risk of rare but serious blood clots, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Teams at Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are working with outside scientists to potentially modify their COVID-19 vaccines to reduce or eliminate the risk of rare but dangerous blood clots that have been linked to the shots, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Tuesday, citing people close to the process. The research is in its early stages, but “fast-developing clues into how the clots form — driven in part by independent scientists in Europe, the US and Canada — are boosting hopes of identifying the cause and possibly re-engineering AstraZeneca’s shot by next year”, the WSJ reported, citing some of the people close to the process. It is not yet certain whether the two vaccines can be modified or whether it makes commercial sense to do so, the paper said.