The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is back in service.
On April 13, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that due to rare cases of blood clots among six recipients, the vaccine was put on hold.
Spectrum Healthcare, which had been administering doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine through mobile vaccine clinics, mostly in rural areas in Yavapai County, followed suit and replaced the J&J inoculations with the Moderna vaccine.
On April 23, the CDC resumed its recommendation of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, stating that while there is a small chance of blood clots, the rarity of the side-effects as well as the effectiveness in creating immunity for the far more common risk of COVID-19 infection make the vaccine worth taking.
“Safety is our top priority,” Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said. “This pause was an example of our extensive safety monitoring working as they were designed to work — identifying even these small number of cases.”
On April 26, Spectrum Healthcare announced their intention to resume use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“We take the safety and well-being of our community very seriously at Spectrum,” Spectrum CEO April Rhodes said. “Out of an abundance of caution, we observed the recommendation of the FDA and CDC to pause use of the Janssen vaccine until more information was known.”
Demand for vaccinations has decreased in recent weeks in Yavapai County, with the county usually managing to inoculate between 1,000 and 1,500 total people per day in April, well below the heights of around 3,000 people in a single day in March.
According to Spectrum Vice President of Integration Sunshine Dean, most of the shots at this point are second doses of the Moderna vaccine. As of Friday, April 30, Yavapai County has administered over 154,727 doses, representing 39.0% of the population, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services, which puts the county slightly below the 40.7% statewide average.
Spectrum has begun the process of moving away from its large-scale vaccinations at major sites like Verde Valley Christian Church in Cottonwood, which it intends to close on May 14.
People will still be able to get vaccinated at Spectrum’s various locations and the company has begun shifting to coming to people’s homes to provide vaccinations instead of making them travel to the distribution sites.
Spectrum is offering those who want to get vaccinated at home the chance to do so by calling 1-844-943-7387 [1-844-WHERE-U-R].
The availability of the vaccine is expanding. Dean hopes that as primary care providers themselves get the vaccine, it will encourage some who may be hesitant to get it after talking to a doctor they trust.
“That’s the next approach — making sure that health care providers are armed with the tools to have those conversations with people,” Dean said. “People aren’t willing to get it if they can’t talk to their primary care doctor and get it there.”
