On the heels of the recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration to pause use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, doctors are steering people who are pregnant or have just given birth away from the J&J vaccine.

The new guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists encourages women who are pregnant and wish to get vaccinated to either get the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, even if the Johnson & Johnson vaccine becomes available again.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on Wednesday changed its guidance for those who are pregnant and postpartum.

“Until more is understood about blood clots that have been seen in six individuals who received the J&J [vaccine], I think it’s a good, balanced approach that is not blanket in nature,”  said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and professor at Johns Hopkins University. “It’s very targeted in where they believe is risk and something driven [by] the data in the review.”

The change comes as a CDC committee reviews the vaccine and the six cases of rare and severe blood clots in women ages 18 to 48 who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It remains unclear whether the vaccine was the cause, health leaders said.

“What needs to be determined about the J&J vaccine is understanding the mechanism for why these rare clots occurred in these six individuals, what the risk factors were,” Adalja said. “Until that information is available, it appears the guidance by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is to refrain from using that vaccine and use an alternative.”

It remains very important for those who are pregnant to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Adalja said.

“It’s the best way to protect yourself, to protect your developing fetus, and you may even see antibodies that you generate from the vaccine for a period of time after birth," Adalja said.