Efforts persist as 1 vaccine halted
Ernestine Braswell heard the bad news about the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine on television.
“That’s about all I do, watch the news and the shoot-’em-ups,” the 84-year-old retired teacher from Pine Bluff said.
Upon receiving her covid-19 shot, Braswell had just one question for nurses: “This isn’t Johnson & Johnson, is it?”
It wasn’t. It was the first of two Pfizer/BioNTech doses. Braswell is scheduled to return three weeks later for the second dose.
Braswell, like many Americans, learned Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have asked health care providers to voluntarily pause administration of the Johnson & Johnson-manufactured vaccine amid reports of blood clots combined with low platelets in a small number of patients who recently received shots.
All six U.S. cases involved women ages 18-48, with symptoms occurring six to 13 days after vaccination, the CDC and FDA said in a joint statement.
“CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Wednesday to further review these cases and assess their potential significance,” the joint statement from the CDC and FDA read. “FDA will review that analysis as it also investigates these cases. Until that process is complete, we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution.”
Johnson & Johnson responded to the request, adding that it would work with European health authorities and delay rollout of its vaccine on the continent.
At the state level, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, at his weekly covid-19 news conference, acknowledged the recommendation from the federal health authorities on the vaccine, saying the state will pause its use until more is known.
Lelan Stice, owner of Doctor’s Orders Pharmacy, said part of the covid-19 disease is thought to involve some type of cardiovascular clotting.
“It has absolutely not been shown that the vaccine has caused these blood clots,” Stice said. “We’re talking six in 6.8 million doses that have been administered in the United States, so it’s been very, very rare, statistically. And it’s not been established that the vaccine is the cause, but they’re going to pause and investigate these six cases. We’re going to follow the voluntary pause that the federal government has asked us to.”
The move, however, did not stop Doctor’s Orders from holding a vaccination clinic in tandem with the Area Agency on Aging of Southeast Arkansas on Tuesday at the agency’s Sgt. Michael J. Strachota Senior Center on East Eighth Avenue. All shots administered were from Pfizer/BioNTech, a personal preference of Stice’s.
“It gets very minute in looking at the details [as to] which is better,” he said. “Clearly the Pfizer and Moderna, for protection against mild and moderate cases of covid, they’re significantly better than the Johnson & Johnson. You’re still almost 100% protected from being hospitalized or dying by getting any of the vaccines. That’s the main thing with any of the vaccines, preventing hospitalization and death. For many mild to moderate [symptoms] and keeping people in the workforce and that sort of thing, the Pfizer and Moderna are effective at that.”
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require two shots spaced apart, recorded efficacy rates of 90% or higher last fall. The single Johnson & Johnson shot recorded a rate of 72% in preventing covid-19.
The vaccination drive at the Strachota Senior Center is a step in helping Jefferson County improve its covid-19 immunization rate. Arkansas Department of Health Secretary Dr. Jose Romero has said the goal is for 70% of all eligible Arkansans — 16 and older regardless of health issues — to receive shots.
“Eight now in Jefferson County, we’re sitting around 13% of our population that’s been fully vaccinated and about 25% that have had at least one dose,” Stice said.
Raising the vaccination rate hasn’t been easy, Stice added. But starting April 21, those who want a covid-19 shot will not have to register online with Doctor’s Orders beforehand.
Kathy Tynes, executive director of the Area Agency on Aging of Southeast Arkansas, said her organization has made phone calls to its clientele in promoting the vaccination drive.
“That’s very good for our contact list,” Tynes said. “Emails are kind of nonexistent to that age group we serve.”