Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday it is delaying the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine in Europe amid concerns about potential blood clots in US recipients.
“We are aware of an extremely rare disorder involving people with blood clots in combination with low platelets in a small number of individuals who have received our COVID-19 vaccine,” the New Jersey-based drugmaker said in a statement.
“The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases out of more than 6.8 million doses administered,” J&J said.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the CDC and FDA have recommended a pause in the use of our vaccine,” the company noted — as US federal officials and states such New York announced they are yanking the shots until more research on the potential dangers is done.
“In addition, we have been reviewing these cases with European health authorities,” J&J said. “We have made the decision to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe.” The UK already ordered at least 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose immunization.
Read More: Johnson & Johnson halts rollout of vaccine in Europe amid US pause
