U.S. calls for pause to J&J COVID-19 vaccine over rare blood clots

U.S. federal health agencies on Tuesday recommended pausing the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine after six recipients developed a rare disorder involving blood clots, in a fresh setback to global efforts to tackle the pandemic.

The move comes a week after European regulators said they had found a possible link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and a rare blood clotting problem that had led to a small number of deaths.

Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single dose vaccine – most COVID-19 shots are delivered over two doses – and AstraZeneca’s low-cost vaccine are seen as vital tools in the fight against a pandemic that has claimed more than three million lives.

An advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will hold a meeting on Wednesday to review the cases linked to the J&J vaccine, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will review the analysis, the agencies said in a joint statement.

All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48, and the symptoms occurred six to 13 days after vaccination.

via Reuters