***UPDATE: As of April 23, 2021, the CDC cleared the United Stated to resume use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The vaccine will now come with a warning of the potential, but rare, risk of life-threatening blood clots.
The United States paused Johnson & Johnson use as six cases of excessive blood clotting have been found in people who have received the vaccine. The pause is expected to be temporary, as both the FDA and the CDC investigate the causes of the blood clotting and if there are any correlations between cases. The six clotting cases did come in women aged 18 to 48. While only six cases were found, it is a rare and severe blood clot that occurs in the brain. At this point, about seven million people have taken the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
At this time, places and people who were administering the vaccine are now recommending to use either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine instead of Johnson & Johnson during the pause. The pause of the rollout impacts the vaccine efforts all around, forcing both state and local governments to pivot and find alternatives for those who were signed up for Johnson & Johnson. With J&J being a one-shot vaccine, those who were signed up will now have to take a two-dose vaccine of either Pfizer or Moderna if they do not want to wait to be vaccinated.
The demand for the vaccine is lowering, however, with county and state waiting lists being very short or nonexistent due to the abundance of vaccines available. In Dallas County, those 50 and older do not need an appointment to receive a vaccine, while those between 18 and 50 can receive same day or next day appointments at the county vaccination hub at Fair Park. Vaccine efforts in Dallas have finally reached a steady pace after a complicated rollout, from logistical issues at Fair Park to the winter storm that caused a multitude of problems and delays in the system. It has not yet been determined when the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be eligible for use again, and it could take some time for the CDC and FDA’s investigations to conclude.
In Texas, 21 percent of all people are fully vaccinated, with over 20 million doses issued. Approximately 35 percent of people in Texas have received at least one dose of the two-shot vaccine.
Agents
We hope this information on how the United States paused Johnson & Johnson use is helpful to you.
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Jeffrey is a graduate from the University of North Texas and joined the Empower Brokerage marketing team in 2020. He is the social media manager for empower brokerage, in addition to writing blogs and doing various campaigns. LinkedIn profile
