J&J vaccine had been on pause due some patients experiencing blood clots.
Baltimore, Md (KM) Starting the week of May 3rd, the Maryland Department of Health is resuming allocations of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Assistant Secretary, Bryan Mroz, says the vaccine was put on pause a few weeks ago by the federal government following reports of blood clots in some patients.
“The CDC and the FDA came together and evaluated the data and found that the benefit of the Johnson and Johnson far outweighed the risk,” says Mroz. “And it was very limited and very selective.”
But, he says, Johnson and Johnson will place a warning label on its vaccine about the concerns some people may have about it. “When the pause was put into affect, there were many providers that actually had Johnson and Johnson in their inventory. And once that pause was lifted, they could use those doses in their inventory as long as they kept them in the proper cold storage. And, yes, Johnson and Johnson is being reallocated to the states,” says Mroz.
The Maryland Department of Health says it will allocate the Johnson and Johnson vaccines based on requests from providers. A total of 13,600 doses will be allocated with 6,800 to hospitals; 2,600 to primary care providers; 2,400 to independent pharmacies; 1,400 to state correctional facilities; and 400 to local health departments.
“They get more this week. They {federal government} began reallocating. and we should get more next week and even more the week after that,” says Mroz.
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is a one-dose vaccine, and Mroz says that’s one advantage it has over the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines which require two doses. “It could be very useful in mobile vac. It could be very useful in population that may be shifting from one area to the next. We found that certainly those seniors that are in a hospital that may be going to a nursing home, or in a nursing home back and forth. Maybe you could give one vaccine. That would be very effective,” he says.
By Kevin McManus