BRIEF—US pause on J&J's COVID-19 vaccine lifted

Following a thorough safety review, including two meetings of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined that the recommended pause regarding the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in the USA should be lifted and use of the vaccine should resume.

The pause was recommended after reports of six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals following administration of the COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen.

During the pause, medical and scientific teams at the FDA and CDC examined available data to assess the risk of thrombosis involving the cerebral venous sinuses, or CVST (large blood vessels in the brain), and other sites in the body (including but not limited to the large blood vessels of the abdomen and the veins of the legs) along with thrombocytopenia, or low blood platelet counts.