CDC Recommends Resetting Johnson & Johnson Vaccines With Rare Blood Clot Risk Warning

CDC advisers recommended that use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should resume with a warning about the risk of rare blood clots

Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP / Getty Images

A federal vaccine advisory committee that reviewed data on 15 confirmed cases of clots rare and serious blood disorders, that led federal officials to recommend that states stop using the vaccine, recommended on Friday that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine be reused with the warning of the risk of rare blood clots , reported The Washington Post .

All cases reviewed by the expert panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were of women, including three who died and seven who remain in the hospital.

The 15 cases include all six cases of blood clots previously identified by officials in women between 18 Y 48 years.

The 15 cases were identified among nearly 8 million doses of the vaccine administered at 21 of April.

CDC officials who presented the data on Friday said that it was too early to conclude that the incidents affected only women and said that some cases were being reviewed in men.

Recommend resuming use

Federal health authorities are inclined to recommend that vaccine use is resumed , possibly as soon as this weekend, a measure that would include a new warning about u An uncommon complication involving blood clots, but likely to require no other restrictions.

The authorities’ stance was described by two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Washington Post to discuss internal deliberations.

Any recommendations from the advisory panel should be approved by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

The independent expert panel, the Advisory Committee on Practices Immunization, is still reviewing the data as part of the next steps for the vaccine, after CDC and the Food and Drug Administration will recommend a temporary suspension on 13 April vaccine administration following initial reports of blood clots

If the United States lifts the pause and adds a warning to the vaccine label, the position would be similar to that adopted by the European medicines regulator, the European Medicines Agency, who said this week that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should carry a warning, but placed no restrictions on its use. The European agency said that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks.