Arizona Department of Health Services recommends resuming use of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19 vaccine

Officials with the Arizona Department of Health Services announced on April 23 that they are recommending that use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine be resumed by providers.

News of the recommendation came on the same day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally lifted its pause on the vaccine, after a panel recommended resuming its use.

"After recommending a pause out of an abundance of caution, we join our federal partners in encouraging everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19 with the vaccine available to you," AZDHS Director Dr. Cara Christ said, in the statement. "Arizonans can be confident that all COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use, including the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, have undergone a thorough review for safety and efficacy. The federal review will continue on all of the vaccines as more people are vaccinated."

The statement said information provided with the vaccine "will advise patients about extremely low potential for thrombosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome, which involves blood clots and low blood platelet counts. This very rare syndrome was identified primarily in females between the ages of 18 and 49."

Related: Johnson & Johnson vaccine: CDC lifts suspension amid blood clot concerns

On April 13, the U.S. recommended a pause in the vaccine's administration amid reports of potentially dangerous blood clots.

Out of nearly 8 million people vaccinated before the U.S. suspended J&J’s shot, health officials uncovered 15 cases of a highly unusual kind of blood clot, three of them fatal. All were women, and most younger than 50.

At the time, a joint statement released by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration states that the clots were observed along with reduced platelet counts, making the usual treatment for blood clots, the blood thinner heparin, potentially "dangerous."

Related: Johnson & Johnson pauses COVID-19 vaccine trial after US recommends investigation of rare clotting reports

On April 23, advisors to the CDC voted 10 to four to resume the shot's emergency use authorization in the U.S. for anyone 18 or older. The panel said the vaccine’s benefits outweigh that serious but small risk, especially against a virus that’s still infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day.

Unlike vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, the J&J vaccine is a single-dose shot, and doesn’t have to be stored at extremely cold temperatures. It’s a crucial instrument in fighting the pandemic in rural areas that often lack the storage facilities needed by other vaccines.

In Arizona, AZDHS officials say 226,300 J&J vaccine doses were allocated, of which 122,000 have been administered.

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COVID-19 resources

CDC Website for COVID-19

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus

https://espanol.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html (In Spanish/En Español)

AZDHS Website for COVID-19

https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/infectious-disease-epidemiology/index.php#novel-coronavirus-home

https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/infectious-disease-epidemiology/es/covid-19/index.php#novel-coronavirus-home (In Spanish/En Español)