Marin Drops J&J Amid ‘Pause’: Report

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Marin County will not administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine amid a U.S. recommended pause, KRON reports.

The move to drop the single-dose shots doesn’t figure to alter the trajectory of Marin’s vaccine push, noting that it mostly administers Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, county officials told the television station.

Marin boasts among the state’s most successful vaccination rates.

As of Tuesday, 68.5 percent of Marin’s 16-and- over population have received at least one shot and 44.6 percent have been fully vaccinated, the county reports on vaccine dashboard.

The pause recommendation comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced they were investigating reports of extremely rare but very serious blood clots from Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients.

The U.S. has administered more than 6 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine with just six known cases, The Associated Press reports.

But a Marin County resident told KRON they were concerned pause would contribute to vaccine hesitancy.

“I know some people already have doubt so this will add to the fire, so to say. If you want to place doubt it’s just J&J. It’s such a small amount of the total people given. I am not concerned, though I have the Moderna shot,” Mark Kroncke.

The move to drop the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from its arsenal follows the county’s announcement Monday of a partnership with Kaiser Permanent to launch a mass vaccination site at the Marin County Fairgrounds that county officials said will have the capacity to administer 3,600 shots a day.

The new site replaces a vaccination site held at the Terra Linda High School gym at which the county has administered 63,000 doses.

The school’s imminent reopening necessitated the move, county officials said.

MarinHealth Medical Center is aslo contributing staff to support Marin County Public Health’s operations inside the Exhibit Hall.

“One of the ingredients in our vaccination success in Marin has been the partnerships with our hospitals,” Marin County Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said in a statement.

“We see the health of our community as a shared responsibility. Every dose brings us closer to the end of this pandemic and working together accelerates our progress.”

Read more at KRON