Fauci believes Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will soon be back in action

Anthony Fauci.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/ABC)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, said Sunday that he does not believe the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson will be taken out of circulation altogether, but that, either way, its fate should be settled by Friday.

The one-shot vaccine was granted an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this year, but the agency last week recommended a temporary pause on administering the vaccine because of a possible causal link to a handful of rare, potentially fatal, blood clots.

Fauci made the network rounds on Sunday, predicting that the vaccine will be back in action before too long. He told NBC News' Chuck Todd, for instance, that he doubts "very seriously" the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee will simply cancel the vaccine. But he did acknowledge that if the shot gets another green light, warnings or restrictions may be attached this time. Not wanting to get ahead of himself, Fauci refrained from speculating too deeply about what the new labels may be. Tim O'Donnell

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
See more
See more
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.