The one-time Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine will likely be re-approved for continued use in the US by Friday, but with “some sort of warning or limitation or risk assessment,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci Sunday.
“I estimate that we will continue to use it in one form or another. I seriously doubt they will just cancel it. I don’t think that’s going to happen, ”Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Fauci’s prediction comes after health officials stopped using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the US last week, as six women, of the roughly 7 million who have received the vaccine to date, developed blood clots after receiving the injection. When re-approved for use, Fauci said the vaccine will likely come with a warning.
‘I don’t think it will just go back and say,’ OK, everything’s okay. Go right back. I think it will probably say, ‘OK, we’re going to use it, but be careful under these circumstances,’ he said in his NBC interview.
By interrupting the distribution of the injection, doctors were given time to learn how to properly treat a newly vaccinated patient showing signs of a blood clot. It has also given health officials time to determine what, if any, restrictions should be placed on its use.
Advisers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet on Friday to discuss the status of the vaccine, and Fauci expects the panel to make a decision that day.
‘I hope we won’t see anything after Friday. We have to make a decision somehow, ” he said in a separate interview on CNN’s State of the Union.
Fauci also discussed the possibility that those vaccinated – with one of the available coronavirus vaccines – may need to get a booster shot at some point. He estimated that public health officials will know the answer by early fall.
“We’ll have a pretty good idea if we need the boost,” he said in his NBC interview.
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