State directs vaccine providers to resume J&J shots

Cleared by CDC after 11-day pause over clotting concerns

Following clearance Friday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Connecticut’s Department of Public Health on Saturday directed COVID-19 vaccine providers in Connecticut to resume administering Johnson & Johnson shots.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been paused for 11 days after concerns over a small number of cases in which people who received the shot developed severe blood clots afterward. After further review, health officials found 15 patients, all women under age 60, who had experienced the side effect out of nearly 8 million who had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Ultimately, federal officials decided to green-light the vaccine once again, while providing informational leaflets on its potential risks.

“This pause and review will hopefully give people confidence that we take the safety of these vaccines very seriously and are committed to ensuring that they meet the highest safety and effectiveness standards,” acting Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford said in a written statement. “With nearly a one in a million chance of developing this rare adverse reaction to the J&J vaccine and no evidence of similar issues with the other two vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, you are far more likely to become ill or be hospitalized with severe COVID than you are from getting vaccinated.”

Eric Arlia, Hartford HealthCare’s senior system director of pharmacy, said the system would likely resume administering Johnson & Johnson doses this week, likely with added efforts to educate patients about the rare blood clotting issue.

“We’ll do a good job educating people about the risks,” Arlia said. “It sure is a lot less risky than getting COVID, so we’ll continue to beat that drum, and hopefully the hesitancy will be manageable.”

Arlia said before the pause the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been more popu

lar among patients than the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna versions, likely due to the convenience of receiving only a single dose.

Because it requires only one dose, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is seen as critical to Connecticut’s efforts to reach underserved populations. Before the recent pause, the state had administered about 100,000 Johnson & Johnson doses, with many allocated to mobile clinics targeting disadvantaged groups, as well as college students.

“You can do twice as many mobile clinics with it,” Arlia said. “It’s a huge advantage, especially if it’s in an area where you think you might not get the person to come back three or four weeks later.”

The resumption of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will aid Connecticut’s efforts to vaccinate all residents who wish to be vaccinated in the coming weeks and month. As of Saturday, 51% of state residents had received at least one vaccine dose, second most of any state, while 34% were fully vaccinated.

Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday he hopes the state will reach 70% vaccine coverage in the near future.