Your questions, answered "Can you get blood clots from a vaccine?" — Iris in New York The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been linked to extremely rare but serious blood clotting. So yes, there is a risk, albeit a small one, of developing a blood clot after getting this particular shot. But you can also develop blood clots from covid-19 — in fact, you're much more likely to get them from the disease than from the vaccine. Blood clots are clumps of congealed blood. The body produces them naturally to stop bleeding from cuts and scrapes, but they can also form as a result of health conditions and some medications. They're dangerous and can be fatal when they block blood vessels. Symptoms can include severe headaches, shortness of breath, leg swelling and chest pain, according to Yale Medicine. The clotting problem linked to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS. Health officials say at least nine people have died from this type of clotting after receiving the Johnson & Johnson shot. Most had underlying medical conditions, including obesity, hypertension and diabetes. Several dozen others developed clots and survived. These cases represent a vanishingly small proportion of the nearly 17 million people in the United States who have gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. But the problem was concerning enough that health officials in December recommended that people seeking the safest and most effective shots go with those made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna. Those vaccines have not been linked to blood clots. Abnormal blood clots have also showed up in covid-19 patients, particularly those who have underlying health issues. It's not entirely clear what causes them, but experts say they may arise from the inflammation that the disease causes in the body and appear more common in severe cases. They can raise the risk of heart attack and stroke, and cause damage to the nervous system and other vital organs. "Unfortunately, in those who are sick enough with covid-19 to be in the intensive care unit, blood clots have been a major factor in their illness," Hyung Chun, a Yale Medicine cardiologist, said in a December FAQ. He estimated that nearly 1 in 5 of these patients develop blood clots. "That's far higher than what you'd expect for patients who are in the ICU for different conditions," he said. Other common vaccines such as the flu vaccine are generally not known to carry a risk of blood clots. But, like covid-19, the common diseases these vaccines seek to prevent can make you more vulnerable clotting. Getting vaccinated against the coronavirus, the flu and other diseases protects you from severe illness. For the vast majority of people, the benefits of that protection greatly outweigh the risks of clotting or other adverse reactions. | 
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