UPDATE 1-U.S. has more than enough vaccine to maintain pace of inoculations as J&J shot paused
(Adds comment from U.S. COVID-19 coordinator)
WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said on Tuesday that the United States has more than enough vaccine from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc to keep up the pace of vaccinations during a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson's shot.
U.S. federal health agencies on Tuesday recommended pausing administering J&J's COVID-19 vaccine for at least a few days after six women under age 50 developed rare blood clots after getting the shot, dealing a setback in efforts to tackle the pandemic.
"We have more than enough supply of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to continue the current pace of about 3 million shots per day, and that puts us well on pace to meet the President’s goal of 200 million shots by his first 100 days in office," Zients said.
U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday that the pause on J&J's vaccine is likely to last days or weeks, and that he could not rule out that the review would lead to a full stoppage of the vaccine. (Reporting By Andrea Shalal and Jarrett Renshaw, Editing by Franklin Paul and Bill Berkrot)
