US CDC seeks more data to assess vaccine risk, extends halt on Johnson & Johnson usage

Having stopped the usage of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine in all 50 US states the previous day, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extends the pause on the usage of the vaccine amid a lack of more data to assess the risk.

The CDC panel concludes without a vote and plans to identify a date for the next meeting related to pausing the J&J covid-19 vaccine by Friday, which aims to reconvene in a week to 10 days.

It should, however, be noted that CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, per New York Post, “Blood clots reported in recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are “similar” to the adverse reaction linked to AstraZeneca’s shot in Europe.”

Elsewhere, Novavax to participate in University of Oxford com-cov2 study comparing mixed covid-19 vaccine combos. The study will explore heterologous regimen of covid-19 vaccines from different manufacturers.

FX reaction

Given the absence of fresh news, coupled with thin trading in Asia, global markets mostly ignore the news. However, the same signals challenge to the market sentiment and may weigh on S&P 500 Futures.