04.14.21. Cause for Pause

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This week, the use of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot COVID-19 vaccine is paused, raising questions and concerns, as well as setbacks for President Biden’s vaccination effort. 

A recent poll shows that less than half of all Americans are concerned with many of the core tenets of journalism… but why? We examine this, as well as President Biden’s plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin, and continuing unrest in Minneapolis as more protests ensue following the shooting death of another black man.

We then shift our attention over to the controversial decision to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, raising concerns among health experts about hesitation by Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The CDC’s reasoning for doing so was “out of an abundance of caution,” but how does the safety of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine compare against other more common medications that have caused similar problems related to blood clotting in the past? Also, how big a setback will the decision to pause the use of the vaccine be for the Biden administration? We examine all of this in this week’s edition of Middle Theory. 

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• Connie Fletcher
• Victoria Pinderski
• John Taylor
• James Malone
• John Lipartito

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SHOW NOTES

• DISTRUST: Study of public attitude toward press reveals distrust deeper than partisanship
• PULLOUT: Why Biden is pulling the US — and NATO — out of Afghanistan
• SHOOTING: Minnesota shooting charging decision awaited, protests go on
• FLOYD: Use-of-force expert for defense says Chauvin was justified in kneeling on George Floyd
• CAUSE FOR PAUSE: FDA calls to pause Johnson & Johnson vaccines over rare blood clots
• How serious is the Johnson & Johnson blood clot risk compared to common medications?
• HESITATION: J&J halt threatens to worsen ‘hesitancy’ problem
• MODERNA efficacy falls to 90%
• Mixing and matching’ corona vaccines will be trialed to see if alternating doses can boost immunity
• World struggles to maintain immunization drives amid mounting reports of side effects

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