Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified in the House Select subcommittee on the Coronavirus crisis on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 15, 2021.
Susan Walsh | Swimming Pool | Reuters
White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Sunday he believes the U.S. is likely to resume use of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine with a warning or restriction.
Health regulators on Tuesday asked states to temporarily halt J&J’s single-dose intake after reports of six cases of rare brain blood clots in women from about 7 million people who received the vaccine in the US.
The cases occurred in women aged 18 to 48 who developed symptoms six to 13 days after receiving the shot. The Food and Drug Administration said the recommendation to discontinue the vaccine was out of an abundance of caution.
Fauci said he expects a decision on the J&J vaccine as early as Friday, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccination advisory panel meets to discuss resumption.
“My estimate is that we will continue to use it in some form,” Fauci said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I have very serious doubts whether they are just canceling it. I do not think it is going to happen. I do think that there will probably be a warning, restriction or risk assessment.”
“I do not think it’s just going to go back and say, ‘All right, all is well. Go back. “I think it would probably say, ‘Okay, we’re going to use it, but be careful under these certain circumstances,’ ‘Fauci continued.
About 5% of the vaccine supply in the US is discarded due to the interruption of the J&J shot. It is unclear how the break will affect the company’s goal of delivering 100 million doses across the country by May.
White House Covid Tsar Jeff Zients said the strike would not have a significant impact on the U.S. vaccination program, which distributes enough Pfizer and Modern vaccines to continue the current rate of about 3 million shots each day. .
The country averages 3.3 million daily vaccine doses administered in the past week, and 3 million if only Pfizer and Moderna are counted. Only 7.8 million of the 202 million total shots fired in the US came from J&J, according to CDC data.
“You do not want to jump out in front of you and decide that you know the full spectrum of this. That is one of the reasons why they stopped and why we will hopefully know by Friday,” Fauci said during an interview on CBS. “Face the Nation.”
– CNBC’s Nate Rattner reports