City waits on the experts before resuming shots
Mayor de Blasio halted New York City’s efforts to inoculate people with Johnson & Johnson’s COVID vaccine Tuesday just hours after the federal government recommended states stop using doses due to side effects.
De Blasio said that there have been no reports to date of any complications involving harmful side effects in the Big Apple, but added that the city would stop administering the vaccine until experts know more about the side effects.
About 234,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses have been given out in New York City so far.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement earlier Tuesday morning recommending states stop administering J&J shots because six women were diagnosed with stroke-causing blood clots after taking the vaccine.
“We take this very seriously,” de Blasio said. “We are immediately pausing all Johnson & Johnson vaccinations.”
De Blasio, who received the oneshot Johnson & Johnson vaccine last month, tried to reassure New Yorkers of its effectiveness and called the CDC and FDA’s pronouncement an example of their “early-warning system working.”
“The problem was identified, and it was actually noted quickly and acted on quickly based on just six cases,” he said. “That’s important because we want that kind of warning system to be functioning at all times.”
New Yorkers who were set to get their shots at a Queens mall vaccination site weren’t so pleased with the news, though. Instead of finding relief through a jab in the arm, they found a former Modell’s sporting goods store with its doors locked and signs saying the repurposed vaccination site had been closed.
Stephen Cunningham, 30, of
Astoria, said he was “bummed” to find the site closed because he wants to get the shot “as soon as I can. “I made an appointment yesterday. Maybe I didn’t check my email. I want to go out more. I’m tired of being in the house.”
Antonio Gonzalez, 66, didn’t have an appointment lined up for Tuesday, but visited the site just to see about getting one. When he learned the news about the J&J vaccine, he said he changed his mind about getting it. “In the very beginning, I wanted the Johnson & Johnson because it’s only one shot,” he said. “But now, because of the reactions, I don’t want it.”
Meanwhile, de Blasio was calling for the federal government to send the city Pfizer and Moderna vaccine doses that aren’t being used by other municipalities to make up for the Johnson & Johnson doses that will have to be shelved indefinitely.
“We have endless need, endless demand,” he said. “We’ve got to get millions more people vaccinated. We need more vaccine immediately to make up for this challenge.”
About 4,000 appointments per day in the city will have to be rescheduled as a result of the Johnson & Johnson pause, city Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said, adding that those in line to receive J&J doses would now be queued up for Moderna or Pfizer shots. Many of those rescheduled appointments will affect homebound seniors, who’ve been receiving Johnson & Johnson doses delivered directly to their homes.
City officials also fielded questions about the vaccine’s overall safety. De Blasio’s top health adviser, Jay Varma, acknowledged some may now view the vaccine as risky, but said he hopes the new federal directive is perceived as an example of the system working.
“The reason that the CDC has to meet this week is not because we think the vaccine is risky, but we need to decide how this vaccine should be used,” he said.