CDC advisory committee meeting no decision on the J&J vaccine 

An independent advisory group to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday postponed making a recommendation about the continued use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

As a result, the current pause is likely to continue until the panel can gather more evidence about the risk of rare blood clots.

During an emergency meeting, members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said they did not feel comfortable making a decision about whether to continue vaccinations yet, because there was not enough evidence about the patients who experienced the serious, but rare, side effects.

Panel members said they wanted more information about the people who may be most at risk for blood clots, like age, gender and other factors.

Check back soon: The panel did not set a date on when they will meet again, but it could be in the next week to 10 days. There is also a regularly scheduled meeting on May 5.

Federal health officials recommended the pause on Tuesday, to allow the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration to review six cases of a rare and severe blood clot reported among the 7 million people who received the shot.