Coronavirus Watch: Feds pause J&J vaccine use because of rare blood clots

Federal health officials today announced they are recommending a pause in the use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine "out of an abundance of caution" because of rare blood clots.

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine, the agencies said. All six cases occurred among women 18 to 48, and one of the patients died.

More than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in the U.S. The CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Wednesday to review the clot cases and assess their potential significance. 

The pause is an example of a "double-edged sword in public health interventions," said Ogbonnaya Omenka, an associate professor and public health specialist at Butler University in Indianapolis.

"The decision is indicative of vigilance and swiftness of action, which are both necessary for effectively dealing with public health threats," he told USA TODAY. "At the same time, there is a risk of the decision feeding into the already existing vaccine hesitancy."

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It's Thursday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the USA TODAY Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama are appearing in a TV special airing Sunday to help educate, raise awareness and dispel concerns about COVID-19 vaccines.
• Britain has begun offering vaccinations to anyone over 45 after hitting its target of giving at least one dose to everyone over 50 by the middle of April.
• The U.N. health agency is calling on countries to suspend the sale of live animals captured from the wild in food markets as an emergency measure, saying wild animals are a leading source of emerging infectious diseases such as the coronavirus.
• India is experiencing its worst pandemic surge: Average daily infections exceeded 143,000 in the past week. India is a major vaccine producer and supplier to the U.N.-backed initiative to help distribute shots fairly. The rise in cases has forced India to focus on satisfying its domestic demand and delay deliveries elsewhere.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 31 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 562,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 136 million cases and 2.9 million deaths. More than 237.79 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 190 million have been administered, according to the CDC. 

See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

– John Bacon, USA TODAY rewrite chief, @realjohnbacon