J&J doses return in low volume as vaccine demand starts waning
The return of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following a temporary pause will likely have little impact on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Connecticut, which is seeing waning demand.
Several Connecticut providers said they are not relying on the resumption of the J&J vaccine to meet their numbers. The state is hoping the “one and done” vaccine will still appeal to those who, before the pause, expressed interest in it for that reason.
When booking an appointment, people will now be able to see which vaccine is being offered. Walk up sites, which are now available at more than 50 locations across the state, will also advertise which shots they have on hand — the single shot J&J or the twodose Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
“I want to take away any reason for hesitancy there might be, so now you have a choice,” Lamont said.
It remains unknown how the J&J pause, which followed rare but severe blood clotting cases, will affect hesitancy among the more than 1 million Connecticut residents who have yet to receive a shot. A slowdown in demand at the end of April was long predicted by state officials, as significant numbers of people either delay or oppose taking a vaccination.
Providers in the state have administered at least one vaccine dose to 66 percent of adults 18 and older but the falloff is acute mong younger people.
On Sunday, April 11, about 31,00 first doses were administered with 64 percent going to residents between the ages of 18 and 44, state data shows. Two weeks later, on April 25, providers adminisered nearly 20,000 first doses. Those in the 34-44 age group saw a roughly 50 percent drop in first dose vaccinations while the 25-34 age group saw a nearly 46 percent decrease.
To appeal to younger generations, Lamont announced Monday that fully inoculated residents will be able to show their vaccine cards at participating restaurants May 19-31 and get a free drink with the purchase of food.
The state is also rethinking its strategy for the single-dose J&J vaccine, which it initially deployed for its mobile vaccine units used to target socially vulnerable populations and for college students who soon are leaving campus for the school year.
Those operating the mobile units, which switched to using the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines during the pause, are showing “some initial apprehension” to resuming the use of J&J given the news of the rare but severe cases of blood clotting, said Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer.
“It’s going to take some time to see how that plays out,” Geballe said.
Going forward, in areas where multiple mobile vaccine units are on scene, the plan is for at least one of the units to offer the J&J vaccine. College students will no longer be a target audience as every college and university in the state has hosted a first dose clinic, using the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
The Department of Corrections said in a statement that it’s preparing to resume the use of the J&J vaccine Tuesday, starting with individuals at “high-turnover” intake facilities, which are the correctional centers in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, and Corrigan-Radgowski in Montville, so that the inmates will be able to be fully vaccinated prior to their return to the community.
Though the agency said it will not be using J&J at York Correctional Institution, the state’s only prison for women, “out of abundance of caution” given the blood clotting cases involved women.