FDA, CDC recommend pausing Johnson & Johnson vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are calling for the U.S. to pause the use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine out of “an abundance of caution.”

Officials released the statement Tuesday morning saying there have been “extremely rare” blood clotting issues found in people who took the vaccine. The FDA says more than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, and six cases of a severe type of blood clot have developed.

The FDA and CDC are reviewing data and the cases, and will convene a committee meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Wednesday to start an investigation. Until that process is done, the agencies said the use of Johnson & Johnson vaccines should be paused.

The agencies will hold a news conference at 9 a.m. on the FDA’s YouTube channel to discuss the pause.

Hill Country Memorial Hospital had announced that the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine would be administered during the April 17 “vaccination blitz.” Organizers of the event had said that they had the capability to vaccinate 120 people per hour over the course of ten hours.

All 50 states were expecting to receive more vaccines after a plant in Baltimore was gearing up to help out with the production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC.