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(Adds context on delay; AstraZeneca restrictions)
By Douglas Busvine
BERLIN, April 14 (Reuters) - The suspension of Johnson &
Johnson's coronavirus vaccine could delay efforts to
inoculate most people in the European Union by over two months,
scientific information and analytics company Airfinity said on
Wednesday.
"If the EU can't use the J&J vaccine indefinitely it could
push the timeline for vaccinating 75% of the population back
into December," London-based Airfinity said in a forecast update
provided to Reuters.
Without Johnson & Johnson, the EU would reach 75% coverage -
viewed as a benchmark for achieving herd immunity - by Dec. 8,
Airfinity projected, compared with an earlier expected date of
Sept. 30.
In the United States a lack of Johnson & Johnson vaccine
would push back reaching the 75% threshold to Sept. 17 from July
22, it estimated.
U.S. federal health agencies on Tuesday recommended pausing
use of Johnson & Johnson after six women under the age of 50
developed rare blood clots after receiving its shot, in a fresh
setback to efforts to tackle the pandemic.
Johnson & Johnson said it would delay rollout of the vaccine
to Europe, a week after regulators there said they were
reviewing rare blood clots in four recipients of the shot in the
United States.
The halt follows restrictions imposed by many European
countries on using an alternative vaccine from AstraZeneca
, in response to similar reports of rare blood clotting
among recipients.
AstraZeneca is now approved for use only among older adults
in the EU, representing another bottleneck in the bloc which has
ordered both shots for its 27 members, in addition to those from
Pfizer and Moderna.
In analysis provided to Reuters that predated the Johnson &
Johnson news, Airfinity estimated that giving AstraZeneca only
to people of working age would delay vaccination campaigns in
France, Italy and Spain by around a month.
(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Maria Sheahan and
Mike Harrison)
