Somerset County Suspends Johnson & Johnson Vaccinations

SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — Somerset County Department of Health is suspending its use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) one-shot COVID vaccine for all populations.

No appointments, with the exception of homebound patients, will be canceled and the county will instead administer the Moderna vaccine. The county will wait for the J&J to come back online for homebound patients.

The decision follows the recommendation of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration due to an "extremely rare" complication of blood clots.

"Somerset County has not seen any adverse reactions to the J&J vaccine at our clinics, but we will be suspending use of the vaccine immediately out of an abundance of caution," said Dr. Namitha Reddy, director of the Somerset County Department of Health. "We look forward to the CDC and FDA’s revised guidance, but until the J&J vaccine is again approved we will continue to quickly administer every dose of Moderna or other vaccine allocated from the state to the residents of Somerset County."

Somerset County will continue its effort to vaccinate residents on its waiting list by shifting Moderna allocations to senior and underserved "closed POD" clinics, but will be suspending the homebound vaccination program until the CDC and FDA complete their review.

Somerset County will continue to add residents to its Homebound and Senior Citizen waiting lists in anticipation of future allocations. To add someone to these lists call the County COVID Hotline at 908-231-7155 or use the web form at co.somerset.nj.us/covidQs.

Three other pharmacies including Wegmans, CVS and Walgreens have also suspended use of the J&J vaccine.

The FDA reported that, as of Monday, more than 6.8 million doses of New Brunswick-based company's vaccine have been administered in the U.S. 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. Read More: Feds: Pause Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine In NJ, Elsewhere

The news comes after reports of a New Jersey man who became very sick with COVID-19 weeks after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The case, however, appears to have no connection to the federal government's actions on Tuesday. Read more: Edison Man Hospitalized With COVID-19 After J&J Vaccine: Reports

The CDC recommends people who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider. Health care providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System at vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html.

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