Johnson & Johnson To "Proactively Delay" European Rollout Of Covid Jab Amid Blood Clot Fears
Johnson & Johnson have announced they will delay the rollout of their jab in Europe
2 min read
The pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has announced its plans to "proactively delay" the rollout of its Covid-19 jab in Europe following reports of blood clots.
The move follows a decision by the US Food and Drug Administration to suspend the use of the jab after six reported cases of rare blood clots in the United States.
In a statement, Johnson & Johnson said they were halting the rollout of their jab in Europe while a safety review is conducted.
European officials said doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had already begun arriving in EU member states, with 55 million doses due to be delivered to the bloc by the end of June.
The UK has also placed an order for 30 million doses of the jab which has not yet been approved by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency (MHRA).
In a statement on Tuesday, Dr Siu Ping Lam, the MHRA's director of licensing, said: "No vaccine would be authorised for use in the UK unless the expected high standards of safety, quality and effectiveness have been met.
"Vaccine safety is of paramount importance and we will monitor and evaluate any safety reports received promptly and robustly before a decision is made, working and sharing safety data with international regulators as necessary."
Announcing the delay on the continent, Johnson & Johnson, said they planned to work with the European Medicines Agency to review the cases, saying the US authorities had paused the jab "out of an abundance of caution".
"We have made the decision to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe," the company said in a statement.
"In addition, we have been reviewing these cases with European health authorities. We have made the decision to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe."
The move comes after the government's leading scientific advisers approved a change to the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK following concerns over blood clots, with the jab now only being administered the over-30s.
In a press conference last week, the MHRA said those aged 30 in the UK and under would instead be offered alternative vaccines, including those produced by Moderna and Pfizer.
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