Dr. Anthony Fauci says he believes the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be allowed to come back on the market this week.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss the current pause on the J&J vaccine.
Speaking to CNN’s "State of the Union" program Sunday, Dr. Fauci said that he expects the committee’s panel of experts will make a decision during the meeting and that the vaccine would come back in some way.
"I think by that time we're gonna have a decision. Now, I don't want to get ahead of the CDC and the FDA and the advisory committee, but I would imagine that what we will see is that it would come back and it would come back in some sort of either warning or restriction," Fauci said. "Again, I don’t know… I do think we will get it back in some manner or form."
The two agencies recommended a pause in the vaccine Tuesday after six women developed a rare blood clot disorder, and all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico quickly pulled the vaccine.
Dr. Fauci said pausing was the right decision "because you want to make sure that you have all the information you need."
Some have suggested that because all of the affected patients were women under 50, the vaccine should still be given to men and older people. But Dr. Fauci said the pause was needed to make sure that was really the case.
"Take a look, see what’s going on, make sure you know the scope of what’s going on."
He said that either way, it is important to get some sort of answer or decision by Friday.
"But what I’m sure - I hope - that we don’t see anything extended beyond Friday. We need to get Friday some decision, one way or the other."
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