Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
San Mateo County on Tuesday paused administration of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine after six isolated cases of people nationwide developed a reaction to the immunization within days of receiving the inoculation.
"With the announcement by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of concerns about cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) in combination with low blood platelet levels in a small number of recipients of the Janssen Johnson & Johnson vaccine, San Mateo County Health is pausing the use of the Janssen vaccine in all of its operations."
This was reported by Dr. Anand Chabra, Chief of COVID-19 vaccination in San Mateo County, who in a statement detailed that the local Health Department ordered its vaccination partners, including local hospitals and clinics, to suspend the use of the Janssen vaccine until it is officially approved by the CDC/FDA.
As of before the J&J vaccine pause was announced, in San Mateo County, County Health, health care providers and hospitals, pharmacies, community clinics and other partners have administered a total of 564,367 injections of COVID-19 vaccine.
Of the total, 22,306 injections are of the Janssen vaccine, representing 3,952 percent of the total vaccines administered in San Mateo County, the others being Pfizer and Moderna immunizations.
"County Health and its providers have used more than 5,700 doses of Janssen in community and mass vaccination events for all eligible residents, for homeless and homebound populations, and in other settings," the document states.
San Mateo County Health received 500 doses from Janssen this week, which will be held pending further state and federal guidance, officials said.
They also specified that community clinics with planned use of Janssen will be switched to Pfizer or Moderna, and other initiatives using J&J immunization will be reevaluated, including vaccination of homebound residents, patients discharged from hospitals, and new stockpiles in correctional facilities.
While the county had some specific events planned with J&J this week, these may be swapped out for Pfizer and Moderna doses so that those events can still take place in the same number of inoculations as planned.
San Mateo County is joined by at least three other San Francisco Bay Area counties - Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin - which also announced they would temporarily suspend use of the vaccine, developed by J&J's pharmaceutical subsidiary, Janssen.
The state Department of Public Health also issued a statement today urging a temporary pause in vaccine administration while state and federal officials determine whether the clotting incidents are significant.
Nationwide, more than 6.8 million doses of Janssen's vaccine have been administered nationwide.
Health authorities have confirmed cases of rare, severe blood clots in only six women aged 18 to 48 years who received the J&J vaccine, with symptoms appearing six to 13 days after vaccination.
Both the CDC and FDA have advised states to suspend administration of the Janssen vaccine to allow for an investigation of the clots and to determine if a causal relationship to the vaccine can be established.
In view of the isolated cases, health authorities have asked all those who received the Janssen inoculation recently and have symptoms such as severe headaches, leg pain and shortness of breath to contact a health care provider as soon as possible.
