J&J pause won’t affect many: city

The “vast majority” of New Yorkers who had been scheduled to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will get to keep their appointments but will receive a dose from Moderna or Pfizer instead, city officials said Wednesday.

New York and other parts of the country on Tuesday put a pause on giving out J&J shots at the urging of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. The agencies said they were looking into reports of unusual blood clots linked to the J&J vaccine.

“Our first preference, of course, is to honor appointments as they’re already scheduled,” city Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said at a Wednesday press conference alongside Mayor de Blasio. “For the vast majority of people who had been planning to get the J&J vaccine this week, they’re keeping their appointment as is and just getting a different vaccine.”

He said Tuesday about 4,000 people per day would have to get appointments rescheduled due to the pause on J&J shots.

Asked how many people who had been scheduled for a J&J shot would now get a Pfizer or Moderna dose, de Blasio’s office could not immediately provide a number.

De Blasio is one of about 234,000 New Yorkers who have gotten the J&J vaccine, which takes just one dose, while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two shots.

“The point all along has been to ... keep getting people appointments,” Hizzoner said. “As soon as we get an all-clear on the J&J, we’ll start using that again.”