Slovenia suspends J&J vaccine after 20-year-old's death

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia suspended use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine Wednesday while it investigates the death of a 20-year-old woman, as thousands protested against vaccination and anti-virus measures in the small European Union nation.

The suspension will be in place until experts determine whether there was a link between the woman's death from a stroke this week and the vaccine shot she received two weeks earlier, Health Minister Janez Poklukar said.

However, the vaccine’s “benefits continue to outweigh the risks” at this point, Poklukar said.

The one-dose J&J vaccine became more popular after Slovenian authorities introduced new requirements for COVID-19 passes, including for going to work in all state-run firms. The government approved the purchase of an additional 100,000 doses from Hungary in response to the growing demand.

The woman who died was the second recipient of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Slovenia to have experienced a serious health condition that wasn't COVID-19, the official STA news agency reported. About 120,000 people in Slovenia have received the vaccine.

At the protest in the capital Ljubljana, participants observed a moment of silence for the young woman, saying she wanted to “buy her freedom" by getting vaccinated.

The protesters carried banners reading “Stop Corona Fascism” and demanded equal rights for both those who are vaccinated and those who are not.

“I am here for the future, the future of my kids, future generations because this craziness needs to be stopped,” protester Katja Zupan said. “If we don’t stand up for ourselves and for mankind, then we are done, we are lost."

Riot police were deployed at Wednesday's protest following clashes at a previous gathering. A helicopter flew above as...