The state health department has told vaccine providers to resume using the Johnson and Johnson coronavirus vaccine. The CDC and the FDA say the benefits of the single-dose vaccine outweigh the rare risk of developing blood clots. State Health Officer Doctor Joe Kanter says the 11-day halt of the J&J shot was unfortunate but reassuring.
“If anyone harbors questions about the transparency of the FDA and the CDC, how serious these federal agencies take safety, the evidence is right, it only took six cases to cause a pause,” said Kanter.
Kanter says it’s incredible how quickly the FDA and the CDC acted after it was determined the Johnson and Johnson coronavirus vaccine was responsible for blood clots in six American women.
“It really gives a lot of confidence in the process, the process is working for the public the way that it should,” said Kanter.
Federal health officials uncovered 15 vaccine recipients who developed the blood clots out of the nearly eight million people who received Johnson and Johnson’s shot. All were women under 50, three of them have died.
Kanter expects there will still be a lot of demand for the J-and-J vaccine and he’s glad its back in circulation.
“The logistics of it, having a single dose that does not require arduous cold chain storage is going to make it easier to get people in various locations,” said Kanter.
Over 1.1 million Louisianans have completed their vaccinations against COVID-19. About 85,000 Johnson and Johnson doses have been administered in Louisiana and no reported cases of this rare blood clot.
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