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Biden administration officials are preparing for the possibility that the pause in use of the Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine could last for weeks — and perhaps longer for certain portions of the American population. “It's going to be more like days to weeks, rather than weeks to months," Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Tuesday at a White House briefing. His remarks came hours after the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the break, citing six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot among the 6.8 million Americans who have received Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. (Banco and Roubein, 4/13)

President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign hit a snag when federal regulators recommended a “pause” in administering Johnson & Johnson shots. But the White House portrayed the action as important validation of his measured approach throughout the rollout. Biden declared Tuesday that even with a temporary loss of J&J ’s one-shot vaccine, there is a huge supply of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, enough that “is basically 100% unquestionable, for every single, solitary American.” (Miller, 4/14)

When top Biden administration health officials gathered on a Zoom call Monday night, they knew they faced a difficult decision. Six women in the United States had developed extremely rare but potentially life-threatening blood clots after getting the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine — a problem with disturbing parallels to the one in Europe linked to AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Initially, some suggested the government could just issue a warning to consumers and doctors. They didn’t want to undermine confidence in vaccines given the danger of covid-19. But as they talked, two big worries emerged. They feared there might be additional cases of brain blood clots they didn’t know about. And what if the government didn’t act quickly, and as a result more people got the wrong diagnosis and treatment and were hurt or died? (McGinley, Sun and Stead Sellers, 4/14)

Calls to administer as many first doses of two-dose COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible are growing and the White House faces questions about why it’s not redirecting vaccines to hot spots as some U.S. regions see surges of the disease and problems have halted the delivery of millions of doses. Manufacturing mistakes and reports of an extremely rare but serious blood clot have put on hold millions of Johnson & Johnson vaccines, stretching supply. (Kopp, 4/13)

KHN: A Year Into Pandemic, Federal Officials Design New Mask Guidelines To Better Protect More Workers

Federal officials announced new measures to help get fresh, new N95 masks to health care workers and expand their use in other industries after scientists argued that the highly protective masks are essential to keep workers safe from covid-19. The changes come as U.S. mask-makers say the demand from hospitals is so sluggish that they’ve laid off 2,000 workers and fear some new protective gear companies could collapse. Yet in a letter to lawmakers, hospitals cite ongoing concerns about scarce supplies, saying limits on which workers should get N95s must stay in place. (Jewett, 4/14)