MN Providers Advised To 'Pause' Distribution Of Johnson And Johnson Vaccine Until Review Of Rare Blood Clot Cases
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Officials in Minnesota are advising health care providers to pause the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, after six people across the country developed a "rare & severe type of blood clot."
At this point, the Minnesota Department of Health says they are not aware of any such cases in Minnesota.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating the blood clots, which impacted women between the ages of 18 and 48. Symptoms appeared six to 13 days after vaccination. The CDC will convene a meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Wednesday to further assess the cases and determine their significance.
More than 184,000 Minnesotans have received the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine, which represents 6.6% of the total vaccine supply in the state. The pause is not expected to dramatically slow the pace of vaccine administration.
"While this issue appears to be extremely rare, CDC and FDA are acting in a very cautious manner that underscores our commitment to vaccine safety," said MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm. "We will be closely monitoring the federal review process and use that information to help guide our efforts here in Minnesota in the days ahead."
Officials in Wisconsin also instructed state providers to stop administering the single-dose vaccine "out of an abundance of caution," though Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake emphasized that "these adverse events appear to be extremely rare."
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Minnesotans with an appointment to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be on the lookout for a notification from their provider about canceling, postponing or rescheduling.
Other vaccination appointments can be found through the Vaccine Locator map, local pharmacies, or a health care provider.
RELATED: Minnesota Stares Down Another COVID-19 Surge
Also on Tuesday, MDH officials reported 1,367 new cases of COVID-19 and three deaths. Cumulatively, there have been 545,404 cases of the virus in Minnesota and 6,962 total fatalities.
The COVID-19 case positivity rate continues to climb; the seven-day average case positivity rate reached 7.2% as of April 4. Hospitalizations too have also increased to 10.5 admissions per 100,000 residents, in the "high risk" category. At the same time, community spread remains as high as ever, with 46% of cases not knowing where they contracted the virus.
The vaccine data dashboard shows that 32.5% of Minnesotans 16 and older have completed the vaccine series, while 47.7% have received at least one dose. Over 84% of seniors have received at least one shot, and a total of 3.3 million doses have been administered in the state as of Sunday.
In the past 24 hours, the state has processed over 15,000 COVID-19 tests; since the pandemic began, more than 3.8 million Minnesotans have been tested for the virus.