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Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Is Lifted

A CDC panel met Friday and recommended resuming the use of the J&J’s one-shot vaccine, albeit with warning labels about the extremely low risk of blood clots.

Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot coronavirus vaccine is set to be used once again in the U.S., following a brief pause to allow physicians and government agencies to assess an emerging, but extremely low, risk of blood clots. The Food and Drug Administration announced its recommendation to lift the pause on the vaccine in a statement late Friday, saying the vaccine was found to be safe and effective in the fight against COVID-19, and the vaccine’s “known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks.” Several European countries have also resumed use of the J&J vaccine. The FDA and CDC recommended a pause on April 13 after six people among more than 6 million vaccine recipients developed a rare blood clotting syndrome. As of Friday, the CDC had been notified of 15 cases of the syndrome. Three people died, and seven remain in the hospital. The CDC’s Dr. Tom Shimabukuro said that all cases have been reported by women, but the risk of the syndrome remains very low, at seven cases per 1 million doses for women under 50, and 1 case per million doses for women over the age of 50.