J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Pause Expected To Be Brief, But Subsequent Use May Be Restricted

CDC’s ACIP likely to discuss criteria needed to lift pause and whether to recommend that the vaccine not be used in specific groups. Former CBER official says FDA and CDC will look at reports for other adenovirus vector vaccines, including J&J’s Ebola vaccine, and the biological plausibility that cases of rare blood clots are directly associated with the vaccine.

J&J vaccine pause.
The US FDA, CDC, J&J have all hit the pause button on its COVID vaccine. • Source: photo illustration/Shutterstock

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will take the immediate next steps to determine what happens with Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine following the call for a pause in its administration. Experts believe use of the vaccine will resume as government agencies continue to investigate the cause of severe rare blood clots in women aged 18 to 48 and that there is a possibility a subgroup will be directed to use other vaccines.

Norman Baylor, former director of the Office of Vaccine Research and Review in the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said ACIP, which is meeting on 14 April, will probably discuss how long the pause should last, the criteria needed to lift it, and if there should be a formal recommendation not to use the vaccine. He said the committee could recommend that Pfizer Inc. and Moderna, Inc

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