J&J Vaccines Halted In Illinois: Department Of Public Health

ILLINOIS— Illinois placed an immediate pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday amid concerns about rare blood clots. The federal Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the pause, and the Illinois Department of Public Health told all vaccine providers to stop using the J&J vaccine until further notice.

Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock told reporters during a video news conference that blood clots were "extremely rare" and she expects the pause to last only "a matter of days."

The FDA reported that, as of Monday, more than 6.8 million doses of New Jersey-based company's vaccine had been administered in the United States. The CDC and FDA are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the vaccine.

The new report comes just after the United Center in Chicago announced its vaccination clinic would start administering the J&J vaccine after public demand rose for a one-shot option.

The Chicago Public Health Department said they are not aware of any local cases of blood clots from the J&J vaccine and will continue working with federal agencies. For now, the city will pause administering Johnson & Johnson.

Big-name vaccine providers Walgreens and CVS confirmed they were pausing the use of the J&J vaccine, but some experts say the shot can still be given if another option isn't readily available.

"This is a recommendation, and it's not a mandate," said Dr. Peter Marks, Director of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "Out of an abundance of caution, we're recommending that the [J&J] vaccine be paused. However, if an individual health care provider has a conversation with an individual patient, and they determine that the benefit-risk for that individual patient is appropriate, we're not going to stop that provider from administering the vaccine, because in many cases that benefit-risk will be beneficial overall to that individual in the large majority of cases."

CVS said it is "immediately implementing a pause in the use of the Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine per the recommendation from federal health agencies," while Walgreens said it "can confirm we’re pausing J&J vaccines immediately, and we’ll have more details soon."

Jewel-Osco said they have also paused use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine "per the federal government's recommendation." The company said patients who have an appointment scheduled for the J&J vaccine will be notified that the appointment is canceled, "and they will be directed to a link to reschedule for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine."

Andersonville resident Jamie McMillin received a J&J shot on Monday and said he feels the generic side effects so far, but the 23-year-old said he's mainly concerned the pause will further lower faith in vaccines.

"I think even if agencies decide to start administering the Johnson & Johnson shot again, no one's going to want to take it and that's unfortunate" said McMillin. "Even if they can point to research that says the vaccine is safe or even if they just advise women in a specific age range not to get it, people will still be freaked out."

The CDC will convene a meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Wednesday to further review these cases and assess their potential significance. The FDA will review that analysis as it also investigates these cases.

According to the Illinois Department of public health, Moderna and Pfizer make up the vast majority of doses administered in Illinois. Next week, the state was expected to receive 5,800 doses of the J&J vaccine out of 483,720 expected total doses.

The FDA said a type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) was seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia) in a handful of individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine.

All six cases occurred among women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination, according to the statement.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said a"combination of pre-conditions "is believed to be behind the clotting issue.

The pause serves to ensure that health care providers are familiar enough with the adverse effects to recognize patients that are at risk for this type of blood clot, the FDA statement said.

Moderna released a statement saying that its vaccine has not been linked to blood clots.

Health care providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

Human errors at a manufacturing plant that caused Johnson & Johnson to throw out the vaccines also led to a sharp drop in supplies in Illinois this past week.

Related: Clinic Canceled In Aurora After Johnson & Johnson Vaccine 'Pause'