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Georgia man says his mother suffered stroke after J&J vaccine

ATLANTA — The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a meeting Wednesday to discuss some of the possible side effects of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Advisors say they need more time to make a recommendation about the vaccine.

The J&J vaccine is just one of three brands of approved vaccines for COVID-19 available in the United States.

Eldra Flowers says his mother got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on March 18. Almost three weeks to the day, she had a massive stroke. Flowers’ mother was airlifted to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

“She suffered a massive hemorrhage stroke,” Flowers said.

He recalls the his conversation with his mother’s doctors. “I was on the phone with the doctor saying they removed a blood clot from her brain.”

Flowers says before getting the vaccine, he didn’t know of any serious health conditions in his mother’s history.

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“I appreciated that they have paused or halted the vaccines, but I need there to be more transparency of what people should be looking for,” Flowers said.

The CDC held an emergency meeting of the advisory committee on immunization practices on Wednesday afternoon. They also want to know if they should indefinitely stop the use of the one-dose vaccine.

More than 124,000 Georgians have already received the shot. The committee stated you should get medical help if you received the shot and are having certain side effects. These may include, but are not limited to, severe headaches; leg and abdominal pain; and shortness of breath.

Johnson & Johnson’s chief medical officer was at the emergency meeting, said there is not enough conclusive evidence to show the vaccine caused blood clots, and believes the CDC should lift the vaccination ban.