Greece suspends rollout of J&J vaccine for Covid-19

Greece has suspended a planned rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccinations but does not expect that to impact its overall inoculation program, authorities said on Monday.

Greece had been expected to start Johnson & Johnson vaccinations on Monday before questions emerged over reports of very rare blood clotting disorders associated with the use of the vaccine.

Several countries have suspended or restricted use of the J&J vaccine as well as an AstraZeneza shot after European and British regulators confirmed possible links to rare blood clots.

The head of the national vaccination committee, Maria Theodoridou, said Greece would wait until the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced its review of the issue on Tuesday.

Greece has received 33,600 doses of the J&J vaccines, the secretary general in charge of vaccinations, Marios Themistocleous, told a regular briefing.

J&J vaccinations were “most likely to start in May,” he said.

[Reuters]