U.S. San Francisco pauses use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine

SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Following a joint statement of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, San Francisco has paused the use of the J&J vaccine out of an abundance of caution until more is learned about the potential side effects, according to an announcement from the city's mayor London Breed on Tuesday.

The CDC and FDA said on Tuesday that they 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. As of April 12, more than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the country.

COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the city. The city's Department of Public Health will continue to monitor the situation and will look forward to hearing the outcome from the CDC's meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to be held on Wednesday to better understand the significance of these cases, the announcement said.

To date, San Francisco has administered more than 33,000 doses of the J&J vaccine to residents with no known cases of blood clotting, according to the announcement.

The city's supply of J&J vaccine would decrease by upwards of 90 percent due to federal manufacturing issues. As the city only received 500 doses this week, this pause will not have a significant impact on this week's vaccination efforts, it added.