Decision over the usage of Johnson and Johnson vaccine in U.S by April 23: Anthony Fauci

Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci who is the Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the US said that a meeting will be held to discuss the halt in the usage of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and a decision would be made by April 23. He said that he would be "very surprised if we don't have a resumption" in some form by Friday. He said that there would be a decision made over the vaccine, administration of which has been paused over rare blood clots being reported in some cases.

Decision over Johnson & Johnson vaccine by April 23

Dr Anthony Fauci told CBS News that one possibility would be to resume the vaccination of people with some restrictions or in some other form. He said that they cannot anticipate anything regarding the vaccine right now. They would discuss the vaccine and they can reach a conclusion over the vaccine on Friday.

The use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the US has been halted after federal health advisers said that they needed more evidence to decide if a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shot. Fauci said that right now only six people have been detected with blood clots after taking the J&J vaccine. He said that it is close to what was seen with AstraZeneca in the European Union and the United Kingdom. 

The United States on April 13 has recommended a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine “out of an abundance of caution” as the authorities investigate the jabs connection with the blood clots. The US Food and Drug Administration and the Centres for Disease Control are currently determining the “potential significance” of the six cases reported of blood clots following the administration of the J & J vaccine. “Until that process is complete, we are recommending this pause” even though the regulator said that as of Monday over 6.8 million doses of the vaccine have been used.

(Image Credits: The Associated Press)