FDA, CDC lift pause on J&J COVID-19 vaccine

Editor's Note

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on April 23, announced that after a thorough safety review, the pause on the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine should be lifted, and use of the vaccine should resume.

The pause was recommended after post-vaccination reports of six cases of rare blood clots along with thrombocytopenia in women. Another nine cases have been reported since then. More than 6.8 million doses have been administered.

All cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 59, with a median of 37 years. Onset of symptoms occurs between 6 and 15 days after receiving the vaccine.