Decision on Fate of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Delayed by US Advisory Panel

An independent panel of U.S. health experts is delaying a final decision about Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine as they get more information about it and possible links to a very rare but dangerous blood clot. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization advisory committee held an emergency meeting Wednesday, one day after the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration issued a joint statement recommending a pause in the use of the one-dose vaccine after six women between 18 and 48 years old developed blood clots known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) within six to 13 days after being inoculated.  One of the women died, while another has been hospitalized in critical condition.     The six cases were among the more than 7 million people in the United States who have been inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.  Dr. Beth Bell, a global health expert at the University of Washington, was one of the members who argued in favor of gaining more information.  But Bell called the blood clotting incidents “a very rare event” and insisted she didn’t want to send a message “that there is something fundamentally wrong with this vaccine.”