CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government decided against buying the single-dose Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine and identified a second case of a rare blood clot likely linked to the AstraZeneca shot. The government had been in talks with the U.S. company but Health Minister Greg Hunt ruled out a J&J contract because its vaccine was similar to AstraZeneca’s. Australia has already contracted for 53.8 million doses of AstraZeneca’s two-dose vaccine. It also recently doubled its order with Pfizer and expects delivery late this year. The government last week advised that Pfizer is preferred for younger people because of a potential risk of rare blood clots linked to AstraZeneca. Two people developed clots after receiving the vaccine in Australia.
