Coronavirus tally: FDA limits who can get J&J COVID vaccine over rare blood clot issue

U.S. regulators on Thursday strictly limited who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ, -0.22% COVID-19 vaccine due to a rare but serious risk of blood clots,the Associated Press reported. The Food and Drug Administration said the shot should only be given to adults who cannot receive a different vaccine or specifically request J&J’svaccine. U.S. authorities for months have recommended that Americans starting their COVID-19 vaccinations use the Pfizer PFE, +1.22% or Moderna MRNA, -5.37% shots instead. COVID cases continue to rise across the U.S. after their steep decline early in the year, driven by the BA.2 variant of omicron, and two other subvariants that appear to be even more infectious. The two, named BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1, were highlighted by health officials in New York State recently. The U.S. is averaging 67,953 cases a day, up 59% from two weeks ago. The country is averaging 18,181 hospitalizations a day, up 20% from two weeks ago, but still relatively low. The daily death toll has fallen below 400 to 366 on average. On a global basis, total cases are now above 515 million. Total deaths are above 6.24 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, with the U.S. still leading the way with 81.7 million cases and 996,964 deaths.