Pause in Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine rollout could be seen as 'positive issue,' Fauci says

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that while some questioned whether the FDA and CDC’s call to pause the J&J COVID-19 vaccine rollout amid rare instances of blood clots would contribute to vaccine hesitancy, it could actually be viewed as a “positive issue,” and serve as a reminder of how seriously the agencies take safety.

"The fact that following the EUA, we have continued to follow very carefully any possibility of adverse events, I believe, is the other side of the coin of hesitancy," Fauci said. "It should reinforce in those individuals how we take safety so seriously, so as opposed to looking at this as a negative safety issue, it could be looked at as a positive issue, where they know that when we let a vaccine be available and give it a go-ahead to be put into the arms of the American people, we do it with a considerable degree of confidence as to its safety. So when I get asked questions about whether or not this has set us back, from a hesitancy standpoint, I give the opposite of that."