J&J Vaccine Update, COVID-19 Figures For Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine should resume, advisers to U.S. health regulators said on Friday. Riverside County will follow federal and state guidelines for the J&J vaccine once they are finalized, a county spokesman said late Friday afternoon.

"We will be acting appropriately," Riverside University Health System - Public Health spokesman Jose Arballo said.

The panel of U.S. regulators voted 10-4 to reaffirm that the single-dose J&J COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for use in people 18 years of age and older. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will update the label for the vaccine, indicating that women under the age of 50 should be aware of the risk of a rare blood clotting syndrome associated with the vaccine, CNN reported.

Guidance on when the vaccine will resume in Riverside County is expected in the coming days.

Use of the J&J vaccine was paused April 13 in the county and statewide after federal officials reported concerns of serious blood clotting in a small number of vaccinated people.

Meanwhile, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines continue to be administered countywide. As of Friday, RUHS reported 1,477,665 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered. The figure includes 19,424 J&J doses administered before the pause.

Countywide, 27.7 percent of vaccine-eligible residents have been fully vaccinated, according to RUHS data.

The portal to make an appointment for vaccination at county-run and other sites can be accessed via www.rivcoph.org/COVID-19-Vaccine. Anyone who needs assistance may also call the county's 211 helpline.

COVID-19 Week-Over-Week Figures

COVID-positive hospitalizations in Riverside County closed the week lower than where they began, and the overall number of documented infections increased by 666, according to data released Friday.

RUHS reported 79 people are hospitalized with coronavirus, 11 less than one week ago. Current hospitalizations include 22 intensive care unit patients diagnosed with the virus, one more than a week ago.

RUHS said the total number of COVID cases recorded since the public health documentation period began in March 2020 is 297,881. Last Friday, the number was 297,215 — an increase of 666 reported infections.

Each Tuesday, the state releases updates on case rates and positivity rates. This week showed a small increase in the number of new coronavirus cases popping up in Riverside County — and local health officials were not surprised.

"We do think that is to be expected," Riverside County Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, explaining that expanded reopening of businesses, schools and other sectors, along with the recent spring break and holidays, are likely factors behind the uptick.

Tuesday's state figures showed the coronavirus case rate was 4.5 infections per 100,000 Riverside County residents. It's a rolling seven-day average. On April 13, the rate was 3.6 infections per 100,000, and a week before that it was 3.5 per 100K.

The county's positivity rate also crept up to 2.3 percent on Tuesday, compared to 2 percent on April 13, according to the state figures.

A total of 4,559 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in the last 13 months, RUHS reported Friday. The death toll is up by 34 since last Friday's reporting.