Use of Johnson & Johnson‘s COVID-19 vaccine should be resumed in the United States despite evidence that it is linked to extremely rare but potentially deadly blood clots, advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on Friday.
The vote paves the way for J&J’s shot to begin going into arms again in the United States after regulators paused its use last week to review reports of rare but serious blood clots associated with low blood platelets.
Top health officials have said they hope for a quick return to the vaccine’s use after the panel meets.
“The benefits do clearly outweigh the risk from a population and individual perspective,” said Dr. Beth Bell, a member of the advisory panel and a clinical professor in the department of global health at the University of Washington in Seattle.
“It’s a new risk. It’s admittedly an extremely small risk and smaller than many other risks that we choose to take every day,” she added.
