J&J vaccine to remain in limbo while officials seek evidence

J&J vaccine to remain in limbo while officials seek evidence

Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine will remain in limbo for a while longer after government health advisers declared Wednesday that they need more evidence to decide if a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shot “” and if so, how big the risk really is.

The reports are exceedingly rare “” six cases out of more than seven million US inoculations with the one-dose vaccine. But the government recommended a pause in J&J vaccinations this week, not long after European regulators declared that such clots are a rare but possible risk with the AstraZeneca vaccine, a shot made in a similar way but not yet approved for use in the US

At an emergency meeting, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrestled with the fact that the US has enough alternative shots to vaccinate its population but other countries anxiously awaiting the one-and-done vaccine may not.

"I continue to feel like we're in a race against time and the variants, but we need to (move forward) in the safest possible way,“ said CDC adviser Dr. Grace Lee of Stanford University, who was among those seeking to postpone a vote on the vaccine.

Authorities have studied the clots for