Enlarge / Boxes of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Florida. (credit: Getty | Paul Hennessy)
A panel of expert advisors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday voted 10 to four (with one abstention) in favor of lifting the pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The panel reaffirmed its recommendation for use of the one-shot vaccine in adults of all ages and sexes.
The reaffirmation will come with a new warning in the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization, which will note that the vaccine appears linked to an extremely rare—but life-threatening—condition that involves serious blood clots and low blood platelets, mainly in women younger than age 50. Experts have dubbed the condition “thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome,” or TTS.
In a day of data presentations, analyses, and discussion, the panel—the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—heard all of the risks and benefits of resuming use of the vaccine or restricting its use in certain populations, such as in younger people.
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