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The White House says that the pause on Johnson & Johnson‘s COVID-19 vaccine will not affect the administration’s national vaccination plans.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention interrupted the Johnson & Johnson vaccine distribution after the emergence of a rare blood clotting disorder in six American recipients.
“This announcement will not have a significant impact on our vaccination plan: Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes up less than 5 percent of the recorded shots in arms in the United States to date,” Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said.
Zients says that President Joe Biden secured enough doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for 300 million people.
“This is more than enough supply to continue the current pace of vaccinations of 3 million shots per day, and meet the President’s goal of 200 million shots by his 100th day in office — and continue on to reach every adult who wants to be vaccinated,” Zients said.
“We are working now with our state and federal partners to get anyone scheduled for a J&J vaccine quickly rescheduled for a Pfizer or Moderna vaccinated,” he said.
The FDA and CDC are reviewing the six cases of the rare blood clotting disorder. All six of the cases involved women between the ages of 18 and 48.
“Until that process is complete we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine our of an abundance of caution,” Peter Marks, an FDA official, and Anne Schuchat, a top CDC official, said.
“This is important, in part, to ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan for proper recognition and management due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot.”
According to the CDC, almost 100 million Americans have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and nearly 85 million have received the Moderna vaccine.
