In a joint announcement, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA have suspended distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
CDC deputy director Dr. Anne Schuchat and FDA’s director for the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr. Peter Marks, said they were temporarily pausing the vaccine due to “an abundance of caution” after six recipients developed blood clots within two weeks of vaccination.
Following the announcements, several states swiftly suspended vaccination clinics that had scheduled the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or switched to one of the other two currently available vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer.
Also, within an hour of the announcement, the CDC sent out emails and made a post on its website announcing an emergency Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting for Wednesday, April 14, 2021, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET. The ACIP is a group of appointed medical and public health experts, and one member from the public, that gave an emergency use authorization (EUA) to the vaccine.
The April 14 meeting is virtual and no registration is required to listen in.
SOURCES:
The New York Times April 13, 2021
CDC April 13, 2021