Greenwich Pauses Use Of Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus Vaccine

GREENWICH, CT — Greenwich saw an increase of 151 positive cases of the coronavirus this week, bringing the total number of cases in town thus far to 4,817 as of Tuesday, according to town officials.

During a press update Wednesday afternoon, Selectwoman Lauren Rabin said the number of active cases stands at 150 as of Tuesday, an increase of four from last week. There were no new deaths due to the virus reported this week in Greenwich, Rabin said.

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Rabin noted the majority of active cases in town are from residents in the 11-20 age range, as well as the 0-10 age group.

"The thought is a lot of that is vacation and sports-related," Rabin said during the press update, "and we're going to be looking out for what happens next week, because the Greenwich Public Schools are on vacation next week."

According to Greenwich Hospital president Diane Kelly, the hospital had 13 patients in-house what had tested positive for the virus as of Wednesday, which represents a decrease from last week when the hospital had 19 patients with the virus in-house.

Of those 13 patients, three are on ventilators in the hospital's intensive care unit, Kelly said.

"We are actually starting to see a downtrend once again for in-patients," Kelly said during the press update, "probably due to the fact that the increase is with the younger population in the town and children are doing better with this virus."

According to Rabin, 43.13 percent of Greenwich residents have been administered their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to blood-clot concerns.

"We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution," the FDA announced on Twitter.

Rabin said the J&J vaccine is currently on hold in the town's clinics but noted all residents who received this vaccine have not experienced any side effects from it as of Wednesday.

"The expectation is new guidance will come out with respect to the population that is safe to receive [the J&J] vaccine," Rabin said, "so we'll be holding our supply and then continuing to vaccinate our residents with Pfizer and Moderna."

Kelly said Greenwich Hospital is also pausing its use of the J&J vaccine until they receive further guidance.

"We also have no reportable major side effects [from the J&J vaccine], so that's something I think all of us will be paying attention to," Kelly said, "but we've also continued to open up our clinics over at Brunswick with the Moderna and Pfizer [vaccines]."

Greenwich Hospital spokesperson Dana Marnane said the hospital is holding their supply of the J&J vaccine for now and awaiting further guidance.

According to Kelly, the pause should not slow up the hospital's vaccine distribution, as they are working to reschedule appointments for residents who were scheduled to receive the J&J vaccine so they can receive either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

"As we have clearance with the J&J [vaccine], we'll move forward with the appropriate populations," Kelly said, "so it shouldn't slow things down."

As vaccines continue to roll out in town, Kelly noted she is still encouraging residents to wear their masks when they're with groups of people and to practice good hand hygiene.

"We have to continue to do that," Kelly said. "We do not have enough of the population vaccinated to think those things are not important."