Tuolumne County halts distribution of Johnson & Johnson vaccine,

The Tuolumne County Public Health Department announced on Tuesday it will be halting the use of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson until further notice in response to recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Six cases of a rare, severe type of blood clot have been reported in women who have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for COVID-19, also known as the Janssen vaccine, the CDC and FDA said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

All six cases of the condition, called central venous sinus thrombosis, were found in women between 18 and 48 years old, and the cases have emerged from more than 7 million people who have received the same Johnson & Johnson vaccine for COVID-19 as of Tuesday. Symptoms occurred six to 13 days after vaccination, the CDC and FDA said in their announcement.

The CDC and FDA did not say what states the six cases occurred in. The Washington Post reported one vaccine recipient, a Virginia woman, died in March. Her death was being investigated by the CDC, Virginia state officials said Tuesday. Another woman was in critical condition, an FDA official said. A CDC official said two of the six patients had been discharged, while three remained hospitalized.

About 1 million women ages 18 to 48 have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, authorities said.

“Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare,” the CDC and FDA said Tuesday in their joint statement. “COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination very seriously.”

People who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care providers, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Health care providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System at https://vaers.hhs.gov/ reportevent.html.

Dore Bietz, the Tuolumne County Office of Emergency Services coordinator, said 413 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in Tuolumne County, with 51 of those to women between 18 and 48.

The California Department of Public Health also updated its Blueprint for a Safer Economy on Tuesday, which showed Tuolumne County had a slight increase in its COVID-19 case rate to 2.7 per 100,000 population from 2.5, and a test-positive rate of 1.8%, for the week ending April 3.

Tuolumne County remained in the orange tier for moderate risk of coronavirus infection on Tuesday, while Calaveras remained in the red tier for substantial risk. The yellow tier, the next one down from orange, designates minimal risk of infection. Only three of California’s 58 counties — Lassen, Sierra, and Alpine — were in the yellow tier as of Tuesday. The rest were orange or red, with the exception of Merced County, which was in the purple tier for widespread risk of infection.

“Continuing to practice preventive measures will help us continue on the path to the yellow tier,” Tuolumne County Public Health staff said Tuesday. “Get vaccinated, wear a face covering in public, keep your distance, wash your hands, limit exposure outside of your bubble, avoid crowds, and get tested.”

Tuolumne County Public Health staff also said they are waiting for an update on an existing Small County Framework, and provided no further context or details.

There were two new cases reported in Tuolumne County and four new cases in Calaveras County on Tuesday. The new cases in Tuolumne County were identified as a woman between 18 and 29; and a man in his 80s. No COVID-19 positive cases were hospitalized in either county as of Tuesday.