J&J vaccine ‘paused’ after adverse reactions at Ga. site
In a new interview with The Associated Press, voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams discussed a new state law that tightens some Georgia voting rules after Democrats carried the state in the 2020 elections.
Georgia health officials are temporarily stopping vaccinations of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at one site in north Georgia after eight people experienced “adverse reactions” on Wednesday.
At least three other states — North Carolina, Iowa and Colorado — have reported adverse reactions of people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at some locations.
One of the eight people at the vaccination site in Cumming, Georgia, was evaluated at a hospital and released, the Georgia Department of Public Health said Friday.
The others were monitored and sent home.
Multiple people fainted after receiving the vaccine in North Carolina, health officials there have said. Fainting is also among the reactions seen in Georgia, said Nancy Nydum, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
ATLANTA —
The vaccines is being paused in Georgia “out an abundance of caution,” health officials said in a statement.
There’s no reason to believe there is anything wrong with the vaccine, and people who have received it should not be concerned, said Dr. Kathleen Toomey, Georgia’s health commissioner.
The agency is looking into what may have caused the reactions, “including the conditions at the fairgrounds such as heat and the ability to keep the site cool,” Toomey said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the incidents in Georgia, Iowa, Colorado and North Carolina, health officials said.
The Georgia site in Cumming is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta.
More than 4.5 million vaccines have been administered in Georgia, health officials said Friday. About 80% of senior adults in Georgia have received at least one dose, they said.