Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet again on Friday to consider whether it is safe to resume injections of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, as senior U.S. health officials prepare for a green light.

The panel last week called for more data about a possible link to rare blood clots in the brain before deciding how and whether to end a "pause" in administration of J&J vaccines called for by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.

The decision by CDC's advisory panel has global implications since J&J's immunization is seen as an important tool for poorer countries and less accessible populations, given that it only requires one dose and can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, making it relatively easy to transport.

Some panel members argued an extension of the pause could signal to the world that the vaccine had major safety issues. There have been six reported cases of rare brain blood clots accompanied by low platelets in the blood out of nearly 8 million doses administered in the United States. U.S. officials last week said a handful more possible cases were under review.

State health officials on Thursday said the CDC was investigating two more possible cases, probing the death of an Oregon woman in her 50s and the hospitalization a Texas woman with symptoms similar to those found in the clot cases - both of whom had received J&J's shot. Officials have not linked the cases to the vaccine. read more

The United States has ordered enough doses of vaccines from Pfizer Inc (PFE.N)/BioNTech and Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) to cover all U.S. adults, but many senior regulators, including U.S. infectious disease chief Anthony Fauci, have signaled they hope to resume use of the J&J vaccine.