The vials with a sticker that reads “COVID-19 / Coronavirus Vaccine / Injection Only” and a medical syringe are seen in front of the Johnson & Johnson logo that appears in this illustration from October 31, 2020. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted Sunday that U.S. health regulators will end the temporary pause in the distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, adding that he hopes a decision can be made as soon as Friday.
“My estimate is that we will continue to use it in some way. I seriously doubt it if they just cancel it. I don’t think that will happen. I think there will probably be some kind of alert or restriction or risk assessment,” he said. Fauci on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
U.S. health regulators last week recommended a halt to the use of the J&J vaccine following the notification of six cases of rare cerebral blood clots in women, of some 7 million people who have received the except in the United States.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel will meet on April 23 to discuss the next steps for the vaccine.
Fauci said he does not know what the final decision will be, but predicts it will be resumed.
“I don’t know if there have been any more cases. We will know on Friday and I would be very surprised … if we don’t re-publish it somehow before Friday. A decision will almost certainly be made. On Friday,” Fauci said. and CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Fauci on Sunday also set a possible timeline for when children could be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I would be surprised if we couldn’t have vaccinated the high school kids before the fall,” he told CBS. “I think by the first quarter of 2022 we will be able to vaccinate children of virtually any age, with luck sooner,” he added.
“But I think it will be the last we see.”
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