Vaccinations with Johnson & Johnson ’s Covid-19 shot should resume, U.S. health regulators said after investigating rare blood-clotting cases, restoring a key tool for filling gaps in the mass vaccination campaign.
To alert doctors and recipients to the condition that led to a pause in the vaccine’s use last week, J&J and regulators plan to add language to the shot’s label and fact sheets warning of the clotting condition risk.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday lifted their recommendation to pause use of the shots, saying the benefits outweigh the risks. Their decision followed a vote by a federal vaccine advisory committee that recommended restarting use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine in the U.S.
J&J’s vaccine could be back in circulation as soon as this weekend because millions of doses have already been distributed, ending a pause that began last week and aiding some vaccination sites that wrestled with limited supplies after the shot was pulled.
Its availability could ease supply constraints that have cropped up since the pause at areas and vaccination sites that were counting on J&J’s vaccine. It could also fulfill demand among people who prefer to get a single shot, rather than two doses spaced weeks apart required for protection from the Pfizer Inc . and Moderna Inc . vaccines.
