Following federal recommendations to pause the administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, Hidalgo County announced Tuesday the temporary halt of Johnson & Johnson vaccinations for their homebound residents.
In a join statement issued Tuesday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended the pause in the vaccine’s administration “out of an abundance of caution” after they reviewed six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
All six cases were among women between 18 and 48 years old and the symptoms occurred six to 13 days after they received the vaccine, according to the statement. Overall, more than 6.8 million doses of that vaccine have been administered in the U.S.
Though the Johnson & Johnson vaccinations will be paused for the county’s homebound vaccination program, the Hidalgo County Health and Human Services Department stated they exclusively administer the Moderna vaccine.
Still, several other healthcare providers here received doses of that vaccine. While it’s unclear how many doses have been administered in the county, 5,300 doses were allocated to providers here for the week of April 5 as part of the state vaccine allocations.
Most providers listed were pharmacies such as those located in H-E-B stores or Walgreens, but also included Nuestra Clinica Del Valle, Evins Regional Juvenile Center and Mission Regional Medical Center.
Following the recommendations to pause J&J vaccinations, Prime Healthcare Foundation, which owns Mission Regional and Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, stated their hospitals would be following federal recommendations.
“All Prime hospitals are following guidance from the CDC and FDA, and we have sequestered and paused administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” said Kathleen Avila, regional business development director for Prime. “The safety of our staff, physicians and community is our top priority.”
Avila continued, “Although the reported complications are extremely rare, we will await further information before proceeding with administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine within our hospitals and clinics.”
All throughout the state, the administering of the J&J vaccine were put on hold as per a statement by Gov. Greg Abbott.
“The State of Texas is working in tandem with the federal government and vaccine providers to temporarily pause all administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” Abbott stated in a news release. “While no cases of blood clots have been reported in Texas, we are taking the reports of rare adverse effects seriously and are working to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines administered in our state continue to be safe and effective.”
The Texas Department of State Health Services stated in their own news release that they had not been notified of any change to vaccine distribution throughout the state.
“Providers that have or receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should continue to store it in the proper conditions,” DSHS stated, adding that providers should report all adverse events following any vaccination to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System at vaers.hhs.gov.
As for individuals who had already received a dose of the vaccine, Abbott urged in his statement that they contact their healthcare providers if they begin to experience any adverse reactions such as severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccination.
Individuals can also call 2-1-1 to receive a referral for a healthcare provider.
But in a media call Tuesday afternoon, federal health officials assured the risk of blood clots among those who had already received the vaccine was very low.
“For people who got the vaccine more than a month ago, the risk to them is very low at this time,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC principal deputy director. “For people who recently got the vaccine within the last couple weeks, they should be aware to look for any symptoms. If you received the vaccine and developed severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath, you should contact your healthcare provider and seek medical treatment.”
Schuchat added that those symptoms were different from the mild flu-like symptoms, such as a fever, that many people experience in the few days after receiving the vaccine.
“Importantly there are three vaccines available and we are not seeing these clotting events with low platelet counts with the other two vaccines,” she added, advising people to keep any appointments they may already have to receive one of the other vaccines.
“Our partners will be working to reschedule people who have the J&J vaccine appointment in the days ahead,” Schuchat said. “This may be a bit bumpy, we want to make sure that we’re getting the word out to the public and to our providers, but we do want to make sure the people who are scheduled to have vaccinations will be able to get that when vaccine is available.”
