State pauses J&J vaccine
Move follows federal recommendation, revelation shots could be connected to blood-clotting disorder
New Mexico health officials suspended Johnson & Johnson vaccinations Tuesday in response to federal agencies calling for the pause nationally based on six women who developed dangerous blood clotting.
Although halting the more expedient one-dose vaccine could hamper the Biden administration’s larger plans for inoculating all willing U.S. adults by June, New Mexico officials say it won’t have a serious effect on the state’s rollout because Johnson & Johnson is still just a small portion of the vaccines being used.
“No question that is leading to some rescheduling and postponements of vaccination opportunities in the state,” David Morgan, a state Department of Health spokesman, wrote in an email. “But Johnson & Johnson up to now has been used in only 3 percent of our total number of vaccinations administered in the state. In the short term, this does postpone a small number of clinics.”
Aside from requiring only one shot, Johnson & Johnson also is easier to transport and store than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, making it a good option for inoculating people in remote and less accessible areas of New Mexico, state officials have said.
Almost 40,000 New Mexicans have received the J&J vaccine, Morgan said.
That’s a fraction of the 1.45 million shots dispensed and the nearly 500,000 residents fully vaccinated, according to the state’s vaccine dashboard.
Almost 6 million doses have been administered across the country.
In a joint statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommended pausing the use of the J&J vaccine in “an abundance of caution” after six women who received shots developed a blood clotting disorder.
All six were between the ages of 18 and 48, and all developed the illness within one to three weeks of vaccination, the New York
Times reported. One woman died, and a second woman has been hospitalized in critical condition in Nebraska.
The hold might be over in a matter of days, depending on what researchers determine. Regulators may limit the vaccine to certain groups, the Times reported.
This disruption is the latest in the manufacturer’s recent woes. Two weeks ago, the company had to discard as many as 15 million doses and temporarily stop production when the vaccine’s formula was compromised at a Baltimore plant.
The production snags led to the company cutting the size of its weekly shipments to New Mexico by almost two thirds — from about 31,000 doses to 11,600.
The lower volume of this vaccine being delivered to the state will reduce the impact of the pause, Morgan said. Still, any dip in supply is not ideal as the state looks to vaccinate residents as quickly as possible to move past the pandemic, he said.
“Having enough vaccine to keep up with demand is a must,” Morgan wrote. “The emphasis for New Mexico is less about the manufacturer of the vaccine and more about getting everyone in New Mexico who wants to be vaccinated against COVID-19 vaccinated in a way that is both expedient and equitable.”
Officials at three of the state’s larger hospitals said the Johnson & Johnson pause won’t affect their vaccination efforts too much. They either don’t administer that vaccine or use the other brands much more.
“We had received a shipment but will not be using it based on the CDC recommendation,” Arturo Delgado, spokesman for Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, wrote in an email. “We have sufficient Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for our planned clinics.”
Jon Wade, chief executive at Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center, said the hospital had administered 400 Johnson & Johnson shots compared to 1,100 doses of Moderna.
“We are currently focused on completing our Moderna booster doses,” Wade said.
University of New Mexico Health Sciences only uses the Pfizer vaccine at its hospital, spokesman Mark Rudi said. He declined to say why that is its sole vaccine.
Lovelace Health System was using the J&J vaccine and now will only administer the other two during the pause, spokeswoman Whitney Marquez wrote in an email.
Marquez declined to say how many doses of the J&J vaccine Lovelace has used.
Pfizer and Moderna, both two-dose vaccines, use messenger RNA to instruct the immune system to produce antibodies as if the virus were present.
The J&J vaccine uses a dead virus to kick-start the body’s immunity, more in line with traditional inoculation.
Morgan said that while the state can make do without the J&J vaccine, it is a good tool to have in the bag because of its greater convenience.
“It’s just one and done,” Morgan said. “It offers some convenience for those New Mexicans who may not easily have the flexibility to take time out of their schedules for two appointments as opposed to just one.”