Governor issues temporary halt of Johnson & Johnson vaccine use

Early Tuesday morning, the Federal Drug Administration asked states to temporarily pause usage after the information was reported.

“Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare,” the FDA said in a joint statement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination very seriously.”

All six cases occurred in women ages 18 to 48, and symptoms developed six to 13 days after the injection.

The news comes just in time as Coffee County prepared to accept a shipment of 200 doses to be given out at an Alabama National Guard clinic at the Enterprise Civic Center on Wednesday, April 14, along with the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine that was given on March 24. Coffee County EMA Director James Brown confirmed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccines will not be offered at this time.

In her statement Tuesday morning, Ivey said, “COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for Alabama. It is important to know that the adverse effects potentially stemming from the Johnson & Johnson shot have been extremely rare in the country, but out of an abundance of caution, Alabama is temporarily pausing these shots until we know more. I commend Dr. (Scott) Harris for taking this swift step in our state so that we can continue moving forward, getting shots in the arms and putting COVID-19 behind us once and for all.”

Approximately 329 providers across the state have received vials of the one-dose shot, and out of around 160,000 doses, 71,297 were administered. Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama state health officer, said no serious adverse effects had been reported.

Harris said the association of this type of blood clot with the low platelet counts is what initially raised concern.

“The question is, is this just a random occurrence that we have been picking up because we are monitoring people who’ve gotten these vaccines, or is there some type of causal relationship?” he said. “To those who have already received this vaccine, we think this is a very rare occurrence, but we just ask that you monitor yourself and see if you have any symptoms you find concerning. We feel like this is very rare and unlikely to affect most people at all, if there is even a true association.”

Harris added that if it had been more than three weeks since receiving the vaccine, there should be no cause for concern.

Johnson & Johnson issued a statement that said “no clear causal relationship” has yet been identified between the blood clotting disorder and the vaccine and that they are working closely with regulators to assess the data. Nearly 7 million people across the nation have received their vaccination.

The FDA has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday with the Alabama Department of Public Health to discuss immunize practice and to review data to determine whether the blood clots are associated to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.