US health panel recommends resuming J&J vaccine use

A Centers for Disease Control panel says despite the rare risk of blood clots, the vaccine’s suspension should be lifted.

A US health panel said Friday it is time to resume the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, despite a very rare risk of blood clots. The recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) paves the way for J&J’s shot to begin going into arms again in the United States after regulators paused its use last week to review reports of rare but serious blood clots associated with low blood platelets. Advisers to the CDC said Friday the vaccine’s benefits outweigh that serious but small risk – especially against a virus that is still infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day. The government will rapidly weigh that recommendation in deciding the next steps.