Maryland Resumes Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccinations After CDC, FDA Lift Pause
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland has begun to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine again after the Food & Drug Administration, along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, lifted the pause on the one-shot covid-19 vaccine on Friday.
Maryland has administered 180,507 of the single dose shots so far including 29 shots in the past 24 hours, according to state health department data.
"Both agencies have full confidence that this vaccine's known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner.
The vaccine now has a warning label for rare and severe blood clots. Six women experienced them after getting the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, prompting the pause.
"People were really asking to have this back. They wondered why we paused it, and they were anxious to have this back, have an opportunity for a single-dose vaccine," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
By resuming use of the vaccine, the state will be able to stay ahead of new cases and variants, said Dr. Jinlene Chan, acting deputy secretary of Public Health Services.
"We're confident that the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine meets our robust standards," she said.
As part of the this reintroduction, providers of the vaccine should share with patients the updated information about the potential but rare risk of blood clots that have been found in combination with low platelets levels.
Out of nearly 8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that have been administered, 15 cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, TTS, were reported with most of those cases occurring in females ages 18 to 49 years old.
Three of those cases resulted in death.
The adverse symptoms from the Johnson and Johnson vaccine occurred around one to two weeks after receiving the vaccine shot.
The University of Maryland in Baltimore held a clinic specifically for Native Americans, a group that has been hit hard by Covid-19 and has experienced a high mortality rate from the virus.
"There are elders that know ceremonial songs or are fluent language speakers that, if Covid strikes them, we lose for generations and so getting vaccinated protects the indigenous knowledge that we have," said Kerry Hawk Lessard, executive director of Native American Lifeline.
That clinic for Native Americans is open Thursdays through Saturdays.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
