The US authorities have now recommended that Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccinations can restart, United States health regulators said on Friday. Earlier, they had called for a pause after the shots' rollout was paused due to worries over blood clotting, according to news reports.
On April 14, health authorities had proposed a halt on the vaccine following instances of severe blood clots among a handful of the millions of Americans who received the vaccine.
According to Bloomberg, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 10 to 4, with one abstention, to back the vaccine, opening the way for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration to lift a pause on the shot that was put in place after reports of rare, serious blood clots among recipients. Regulators put dosing with the vaccine on hold 10 days ago to gather more information
"We have concluded that the known and potential benefits of the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older," said Janet Woodcock, head of Food and Drug Administration in a joint statement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said AFP in a news report.
CDC head Rochelle Walensky said "exceptionally rare events" of clotting were identified, adding that regulators will continue to monitor the rollout of the vaccines.
Blood clots and death due to vaccine
According to data presented on Friday, of 3.9 million women who got the Johnson & Johnson shot, 15 developed serious blood clots and three died.
The majority of the confirmed cases, 13 of the 15, was aged under 50 years old. There were no reported cases among men.
Europe's medicines regulator said Tuesday that blood clots should be listed as a "very rare" side effect of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine.
The regulator said its safety committee "concluded that a warning about unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be added to the product information" for the J&J shot.
