The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation is putting a hold on administering the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. On April 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a joint statement recommending health care providers pause administering the vaccine “out of an abundance of caution.”
The statement said that more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in the U.S. Six people who received the vaccine developed severe blood clots. All six of the people were women between the ages of 18 and 48, and the symptoms began 6 to 13 days after vaccination. YKHC said that none of those cases occurred in Alaska. The CDC and FDA plan to further investigate the cases.
In a press release, YKHC said that people who have received this vaccine “do not require additional monitoring or follow up.” However, the CDC and FDA do advise in the statement that any recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.”
YKHC is continuing to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines and urges everyone aged 16 and older to get vaccinated against the virus.
