CDC advisory panel votes to resume J&J vaccine with risk warning

A government advisory panel has voted to resume the use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine with risk warnings noted, ABC News reported.

The panel cited an urgent need to quickly vaccinate the United States as reasoning for why they chose to vote to resume administering the vaccine.

The panel voted 10 in favor, four opposed, and one abstention, ABC News said.

The director of the CDC must now sign off on the use, and the vaccine could be back in rotation within hours or days.

The FDA and Johnson and Johnson will give healthcare professionals fact sheets about the J&J vaccine as a “warning label” that people can use to decide whether or not they want the vaccine.

The panel will not provide a specific warning to women under the age of 50 and said they can choose another COVID-19 vaccine authorized in the U.S. The panel recommends the vaccine “under FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization,” ABC News said.

A member of the panel said it’s up to the CDC and other public health officials to educate the public on the J&J vaccine.