JOHANNESBURG: South Africa has not yet taken a decision on how to proceed with Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, a top government adviser said, after U.S. health agencies recommended pausing use of the vaccine because of rare cases of blood clots.

The Ministerial Advisory Committee on vaccines would "be looking at all the issues shortly," the committee's chair Barry Schoub told Reuters.

South Africa has vaccinated almost 290,000 healthcare workers with the J&J vaccine in an ongoing research study.