The blood-clot concerns surrounding Johnson & Johnson ’s Covid-19 vaccine pose a new test for the world’s biggest health-products maker.
J&J has faced a number of thorny, headline-grabbing issues during its 135-year history, from cyanide poisoning of its Tylenol headache remedy to quality problems with several of the company’s over-the-counter products and cancer concerns about its talcum powder.
The company’s handling of the Tylenol poisoning burnished its reputation as a high-minded corporate citizen and became a business-school case study in how companies should handle crises, while its response to the over-the-counter quality problems hurt its standing among consumers and the company’s consumer-health business.
The vaccine pause “is now going to be part of J&J’s evolution, but what is also part of their brand is that they got to market with a one-time shot that was very effective and it helps a lot of people. Do these things balance each other out perfectly? Only time is going to tell,” said Cait Lamberton, a marketing professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
U.S. health authorities recommended the pause in the use of the Covid-19 shot Tuesday, following reports of severe blood clots in six women who received the shot.
