Coronavirus: US to resume use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine
- The decision comes after a CDC panel voted 10-4 to lift a pause in the roll-out
- Experts say the jab’s benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clots, with only 15 known US cases out of nearly 8 million given the vaccine
US health officials lifted an 11-day pause on Covid-19 vaccinations using Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose shot on Friday, after scientific advisers decided its benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clot.
The government uncovered 15 vaccine recipients who developed a highly unusual kind of blood clot, out of nearly 8 million people given the J&J shot. All were women, most under age 50. Three died, and seven remain hospitalised.
But ultimately on Friday, the Food and Drug Administration and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention decided that J&J’s one-and-done vaccine is critical to fight the pandemic – and that the small clot risk could be handled with warnings to help younger women decide if they should use that shot or an alternative.
“Above all else, health and safety are at the forefront of our decisions,” CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “Our vaccine safety systems are working. We identified exceptionally rare events – out of millions of doses” of the J&J shot and will continue to monitor them.
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The US decision – similar to how European regulators are rolling out J&J’s shot – comes after CDC advisers earlier Friday voted 10-4 to resume vaccinations but panellists made clear that they must come with warnings about the risk. The group debated but ultimately steered clear of outright age restrictions.