Spain unaware of any delays in J&J COVID vaccine deliveries (updated)
13/04/2021 15:33
(Adds details from Reig Jofre, vaccine arrivals)
By Nathan Allen and Joan Faus
MADRID, April 13 (Reuters) - Spain's health ministry said on
Tuesday it was not aware of any changes to the planned first
delivery of 300,000 Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N COVID-19 shots
expected to arrive on Wednesday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2M53BL
J&J said on Tuesday it would delay the rollout of its
COVID-19 vaccine in Europe and was reviewing cases of extremely
rare blood clots in people after they received the shot with
European health authorities.
U.S. federal health agencies on Tuesday recommended pausing
the use of the vaccine as six women under 50 developed rare
blood clots after receiving the shot, dealing a fresh setback to
efforts to tackle the pandemic.
The U.S. announcement triggered a 6% drop in the share price
of Spanish pharmaceutical company Reig Jofre RJFE.MC which
will fill and bottle J&J's vaccine from mid-June at its
Barcelona plant.
Reig Jofre declined to comment.
The company is awaiting further information but it currently
maintains its production calendar, a source close to Reig Jofre
said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday the
benefits of all the approved COVID-19 vaccines outweighed risks.
Asked about the U.S. recommendation at a news conference,
Sanchez said he was not aware of the suspension but stressed
that all vaccines approved for use in Europe met safety
criteria.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, Nathan Allen and Joan Faus,
editing by Andrei Khalip and Nick Macfie)
((Inti.Landauro@thomsonreuters.com;))