New Mexico joins pause on J&J vaccine use
Halt crimps Las Cruces clinic, but Edgewood event will go on
The sudden pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in New Mexico won’t stop a planned COVID-19 vaccine drive-thru event for seniors in Edgewood on Wednesday, but officials in Las Cruces had to scale back a vaccination “mega-event” planned for this weekend.
The New Mexico Department of Health decision Tuesday to halt the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine came on the recommendation of the Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which are looking into a rare blood clotting disorder associated with six people who received the one-dose shot.
The CDC guidance led to swift action nationwide, with the U.S. military and many other states announcing suspensions of the vaccine.
The vaccine has been administered by pharmacies and other providers in New Mexico for
the past six weeks as the third brand to be approved for emergency use nationally. The other two, from Moderna and Pfizer, require a two-shot regimen.
State health officials didn’t immediately say Tuesday how many doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine were scheduled to be administered this week.
A total of 39,982 New Mexicans have been vaccinated against COVID-19 using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said DOH spokesman David Morgan.
“That’s 3% of the total number of doses administered in the state. Any remaining number of Johnson & Johnson doses currently on hand will not be used until the pause is lifted by the CDC and FDA. No question that is leading to some rescheduling and postponements of vaccination opportunities in the state,” Morgan told the Journal.
Because of the convenience of administering one dose, state health officials had targeted specific populations to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, such as people who are homebound, disabled or lived in rural areas and would have to travel long distances for a second dose.
The 500 or so seniors and others invited by Santa Fe County to a drivethru vaccination event in Edgewood were supposed to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said Carmelina Hart, county public information officer. For weeks, the county has been contacting seniors who attend events or get services through its senior centers to ensure they get vaccinated, she said. To avoid having to cancel the Edgewood drive-thru clinic, the county — with help from the DOH — was able to substitute doses of the Moderna vaccine.
But that means double the work for organizers, who now must plan a subsequent event to administer the second shots.
The city of Las Cruces, which has been trying to boost its vaccination rate, scheduled about 6,000 people to be vaccinated this weekend at two locations. Because the Johnson & Johnson vaccine won’t be available, event organizers had to cancel appointments for the event by more than half and rely only on the shipment of Pfizer doses.
“We were looking forward to a mega-event (for vaccinations), and this will slow us down,” said Assistant City Manager Eric Enriquez. “But we’ll get over this hurdle.”
The immediate practical effect of the recommended pause was limited across the U.S. because the overwhelming majority of the 192 million shots administered in the U.S. have been manufactured by Pfizer or Moderna.
All six cases of the rare brain clots in the United States involving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine involved women between the ages of 18 and 48. Their symptoms developed six to 13 days after vaccination. One woman died in March, and another was in critical condition.
But health officials say the adverse events reported are extremely rare — less than one per million.
Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner, said, “I’d like to stress these events appear to be extremely rare. However, COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of adverse events following vaccination very seriously.”
On Tuesday, The DOH reported 187 new COVID-19 cases statewide and nine additional deaths related to the coronavirus.
According to The New York Times, since January of last year, at least 1 in 11 people who live in New Mexico have been infected, and at least 1 in 527 have died.