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- Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine pause should not last long.
- "It's gonna be more like days to weeks rather than weeks to months," Fauci said of the delay.
- Fauci added that this step should assure Americans the government is being transparent.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause will not cause a protracted delay and should only last "days to weeks," according to his understanding of the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
"What I heard from the previous press discussion was it's gonna be more like days to weeks rather than weeks to months," Fauci said when asked about the extent of the delay at a White House press briefing.
The vaccine rollout was paused on Tuesday over blood clot reports, with the CDC and FDA investigating the small number of negative reactions "out of an abundance of caution."
Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA's acting commissioner, told reporters earlier in the day that she expects the halt to be temporary.
"We expect it to be a matter of days for this pause," Woodcock said.
-CBS News (@CBSNews) April 13, 2021
Fauci also pointed to the remote likelihood of similar blood clots occurring for most patients, with the pause centered around six J&J recipients experiencing the problem out of more than 6.8 million doses that have been delivered in the US.
"So someone who maybe had it a month or two ago would say, 'What does this mean for me?'" Fauci said. "It really doesn't mean anything. You're OK because when you look at the time frame of when this occurs, it's pretty tight, from a few days - six to 13 days - from the time of vaccination."
As Insider's Aria Bendix recently reported, Johnson & Johnson has also faced manufacturing issues and reports of fainting at vaccination sites, but the fear of blood clots is likely overblown and does not impact the efficacy of the vaccine.