US lifts pause on Johnson & Johnson vaccine

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Reading — Intermediate Level
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US health regulators have lifted an 11-day pause on the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Covid-19 jab, but will add a warning label about the potential for extremely rare blood clots.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel earlier approved restarting US rollout of the shot.

Fifteen vaccine recipients suffered from a dangerous blood clot out of nearly eight million given the jab.

This week, Europe's drug regulator also ended restrictions on the J&J vaccine.

European regulators this month also linked similar, highly unusual blood clots to the AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot, but found the benefits of the drug outweighed any risks.

On Friday afternoon, the CDC and Food and Drug Administration swiftly followed the recommendation of the CDC advisory panel after it voted 10-4 to continue rolling out the vaccine for people 18 years of age and older in line with its original authorisation.

The decision means at least 10 million doses of the J&J vaccine, shipped from the company's factory in the Netherlands, can be deployed across the US immediately.

The health officials on Friday identified nine more cases of the blood clots, adding to six cases already identified since regulators first approved the jab as safe and effective in February.

All were women, most under the age of 50. Three died and seven remain in hospital.

About a dozen of the cases affected women aged 30-39. Seven of the women were obese, two had high blood pressure, and two were using oral contraceptives, according to health officials.
  1. What company manufactured the vaccine agaisnt Covid-19 that has been paused by the US health regulators?

  2. What panel approved restarting US rollout of the shot?

  3. What other continent ended the restrictions on the J&J vaccine?

  4. What was the result of the voting regarding rolling out of the vaccine?

Discussion

Practice your writing skills by discussing the questions below

  1. How is the Covid situation in your country?

  2. What types of Covid vaccines are being administered in your country?

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    Vocabulary

      • a drug or device (such as birth control pills or a condom) that is used to prevent a woman from becoming pregnant
      • to push something sharp or hard quickly or suddenly into or toward someone or something
      • very fat : fat in a way that is unhealthy
      • an occasion when a new product or service is first offered for sale or use

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