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Russell County Health Department Will Pause Administration of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine

Russell County Health Department Building
Russell County Health Department Building

The Russell County Health Department will pause administration of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced six recipients in the United States who have developed a rare blood clotting disorder within approximately two weeks of receiving the vaccination on Tuesday morning.

Due to this finding, the FDA and CDC have paused administration of the vaccine until studies regarding the correlation between this rare blood clotting disorder and the vaccine can be conducted.

The Russell County Health Department will await guidance from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment after the federal government reports its findings and provides further details.

"Vaccinating people is important," stated Paula Bitter, Russell County Health Department Administrator. "But more important is making sure the vaccine is safe for those who receive the vaccine. We will continue to offer the Moderna vaccine to those 18 and older who desire to receive the vaccine."

The Moderna vaccine is a two-dose series where the second dose is administered 28 days after the first dose.

The CDC and FDA released a joint statement Tuesday stating they were investigating blood clots in six individuals that occurred 6 to 13 days after receiving the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccination.

The clots were observed in the sinuses of the brain along with reduced platelet counts. This combination makes the usual treatment for blood clots, which is typically a blood thinner called heparin, potentially dangerous. All six cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 48.

People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks after receiving the vaccination should contact their healthcare provider. These adverse events appear to be extremely rare, but vaccine safety is a top priority.

Less than four percent of the 1,564,848 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Kansas have been Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine. Approximately 10.5 percent of the 1,717 vaccine doses administered by the Russell County Health Department have been the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine.

(Information courtesy RCHD.)