White House senior medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said during multiple Sunday morning interviews that he predicts the Johnson & Johnson vaccine won’t be canceled after several recipients developed blood clots after receiving the vaccine.
Fauci floated the possibility that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would return in some form this upcoming week with a “warning” or “restriction” attached to its use. Fauci’s words came following the announcement that the vaccine’s administration would be temporarily paused after six out of seven million recipients developed blood clots.
“I can give you my estimate. My estimate is that we will continue to use it in some form,” Fauci said during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked about the likelihood of the vaccine being canceled. “I doubt very seriously if they just cancel it. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“I do think that there will likely be some sort of warning or restriction or risk assessment. I don’t think it’s just going to go back and say, ‘OK, everything’s fine,’ and go right back. I think it’ll likely say, ‘OK, we’re going to use it. But be careful under these certain circumstances,'” he continued. (RELATED: White House ‘Assured’ Vaccine Supply Won’t Be Interrupted By Johnson & Johnson Factory Debacle)
“I don’t want to get ahead of the CDC and the FDA and the advisory committee,” Fauci said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Dana Bash. “But, I would imagine that what we will see is that it would come back and it would come back in some sort of either warning or restriction.”
“Again, I don’t know. I don’t want to be ahead of them, but I keep getting asked that. I do think we will get it back in some manner or form,” he continued. “I hope that we don’t see anything extended beyond Friday. We need to get Friday, some decision one way or the other.”
Fauci reiterated during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” that he felt that there might be “restrictions,” added to the vaccine, but that he’s unsure whether the restrictions would have to do with age or sex or just be a general “warning of some sort.”
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a vaccine advisory panel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to meet on Friday to discuss safety concerns regarding the vaccine.
Following the pause of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a poll from Echelon Insights revealed that while 58% of Americans were more confident in the COVID-19 vaccines, 23% were less confident.
A quick check-in with U.S. adults reveals that contrary to the prevailing view on Twitter, the decision to pause the J&J vaccine???? due to a small number of blood clotting issues actually makes Americans more, not less, confident in the COVID-19 vaccines. pic.twitter.com/S8KtiVyOXR
— Echelon Insights (@EchelonInsights) April 14, 2021