The family of a Mississippi man said he experienced a blood clot and stroke after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
Brad Malagarie, 43, of St. Martin, suffered a stroke after he got the J&J shot, his family members told local station WLOX.
"They called me and said he had that vaccine and something is wrong, we think it’s a stroke," Malagarie's aunt, Celeste Foster O’Keefe, told the news outlet.
Malagarie, a father of seven, was taken to the hospital, and officials said that he had a stroke due to a blood clot in his brain, according to his family members.
"I said, 'Be sure to tell the doctors he took that J & J vaccine and that, to me, is what caused his stroke,'" O'Keefe said, adding that Malagarie took medication for his blood pressure but was a "young" and "healthy" man. She said that her family member is now paralyzed on the right side of his body.
The Epoch Times has contacted Johnson & Johnson and the Mississippi Department of Health for comment.
"He can’t talk now and he can’t walk. He’s paralyzed on the right side. He knows who we are and he will just cry when he sees us," O’Keefe said, adding that doctors informed him that it's not clear how long it will take to recover.
"We want him to be able to communicate, to be able to walk and talk again, even if it’s not perfect," O’Keefe remarked, reported WLOX.
As of this week, Malagarie is in critical, yet stable, condition.
The Mississippi State Health Department and a local vaccine doctor, Lisa Morici, said that Malagarie's case appears to be different than the seven cases that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) cited for recommending a pause of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine, the report said.
“The Mississippi State Department of Health is saddened to hear about the recent illness of Mr. Malagarie and wishes him well. The Agency is certainly investigating the situation," the state Department of Health said in a statement after his medical condition was reported.
They stressed: "It is difficult, if not impossible, to assign a cause and effect at this time. It is important to note that strokes are not associated with this vaccine – instead a rare clotting syndrome has been identified. Further, adverse reaction has been between cited between six and 13 days after the vaccine was administered. Of the six noted cases, all are women between the age of 18 and 38. Yesterday, the Mississippi State Department of Health paused all administration of the J and J vaccine until further guidance from the FDA."
As of Monday, nearly 7 million doses of the J&J single-shot vaccine have been administered in the United States so far, officials said, and they have added that the risk of developing blood clots is very low.
