An advisory committee from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not vote on Wednesday to extend the nation’s pause for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, after experts on the panel argued that there was still insufficient data to Make definitive recommendations in light of the serious, rare blood clotting events that may be related to the injections.
While the CDC’s current hiatus regarding the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is not binding, federal health officials’ warning on Tuesday insisted that vaccinations be suspended only until the panel has voted on “updated recommendations” for the use of it. vaccine. In response to the FDA and CDC advice on the pause, all states and DC and Puerto Rico have opted to temporarily discontinue this vaccine.
The CDC has yet to decide on a date to resume panel discussion on the topic.
“Your input today was incredibly helpful in helping inform our work over the next week,” said Dr. Amanda Cohn, the agency’s appointed federal adviser to the advisory committee.
“To be very fair, I don’t want to vote on this issue today,” said Dr. Beth Bell, a panel member and former top infectious disease official at the CDC, vied the commission.
“I just don’t feel like that was enough information to make an evidence-based decision. We won’t have all of the information, but I think there are some things we can gather relatively quickly that will all be made. have the benefit risk balance, ”added Dr. Bell added.
A working group within the panel said it discussed a range of options this week, including recommending using the vaccine only for specific groups of people or discontinuing the injection altogether, but concluded they needed more data on these and other possible cases that could be reported. .
White House officials have said the pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccinations would likely affect the nationwide vaccination campaign “in the very short term,” but have insisted that the offerings from Pfizer and Moderna are sufficient to meet their goals.
Ongoing trials of the single vaccine have stopped in the wake of the original hiatus. Overseas roll-out of the vaccine was also disrupted in response to the recommendation, as were major programs launched by US national and local authorities to use the shots to vaccinate hard-to-reach communities.
“We find ourselves in a situation where not making a decision is tantamount to making a decision. Any extension of the pause will invariably result in the most vulnerable individuals in the United States who were the prime candidates for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will remain vulnerable, “Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah, Chairman of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers, to the committee.
Representatives from both Johnson & Johnson, Food and Drug Administration, and CDC officials made presentations to the committee and outlined a handful of new details about the cases known to date.