Reporters Press CDC and FDA Officials About Call for Pause on J&J Vaccine: What Do You Say to People Who Think This is an ‘Overreaction?’

Officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control faced a barrage of questions about enacting a halt on distribution for the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen coronavirus vaccine.

Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, Dr. Peter Marks and Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC took questions from the media on Tuesday after both agencies called for a pause on the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine. The agencies have justified their decision by saying they are studying data about a possible correlation between the vaccine’s recipients and a handful of blood clots among the 6.8 million people who’ve had the J&J shot.

When the three officials took questions, they were asked “what would you say to people who are concerned and frustrated that they think this might be an overreaction considering it’s six people out of seven million?”

Schuchat responded by saying “we are committed to safety and transparency and to expeditiously learn what we can so that further steps can be taken.”

“When we saw this pattern and aware of that treatment needed to be individualized for this condition, it was of the utmost importance for us to get that out,” she added. “That said, the pandemic is quite severe, and cases are increasing in a the lot of places, and vaccination is critical. So we want to make sure that we make some recommendations quickly.”

Officials continued to take questions about whether states were informed that the J&J pause was coming, and how the agencies were able to make their decision so quickly. Schuchat said she wishes there was more time to prepare for the decision, but “it was clear we needed to alert the public,” and “the decision was based on the events that might occur between when we made that realization and when we got the word out.”

Watch above, via CNN.