Vials with a sticker that reads: “COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / injection only” and a medical syringe are displayed in front of a Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration on October 31, 2020. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
Dr Anthony Fauci predicted on Sunday that U.S. health regulators would end the temporary halt to the distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, adding that he expects a decision to come as early as Friday.
“My estimate is that we will use it in some form. I very much doubt if they are just canceling it. I do not think it is going to happen. I do think there will probably be a warning or restriction or risk assessment,” said Fauci on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
U.S. health regulators last week recommended that the use of the J&J vaccine be stopped after reports of six cases of rare brain blood clots in women, out of about 7 million people who received the shot in the United States.
The advisory panel of the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) will meet on April 23 to discuss the next steps for the vaccine.
Fauci said he did not know what the final decision would be, but he predicted there would be a resumption.
“I do not know if there were any more cases. We will know by Friday, and I will be very surprised … if we do not resume in form by Friday. A decision will definitely be made by Friday, “Fauci said on CBS’s” Face the Nation. “
On Sunday, Fauci also outlined a possible timeline for when children could be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I would be surprised if we could not get the high school kids vaccinated by the fall,” he told CBS. “I think by the first term of 2022 we will be able to vaccinate children of almost any age – hopefully before then,” he added.
“But I think it’s going to be the latest we’ll see.”
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