NJ Warns Against 'Panic' Over COVID Vaccines, Rising Cases

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy said on Wednesday that the stoppage of Johnson & Johnson immunizations will impact COVID vaccines while cases continue to remain high. But state officials said the problems shouldn't scare anyone away from getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.

"We understand that concerns about J&J may increase your hesitancy," New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said during a news conference. "It is vital that as many people get vaccinated to beat COVID-19 in our state, where we have lost 1 in 500 New Jerseyans to this virus."

"The efficacy against hospitalizations, severe illness, death, all three of these vaccines are money good," Murphy said.

Their comments come one day after state and federal governments announced a "pause" on administering the one-dose vaccine from the New Brunswick-based company due to blood clots in women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. One woman died, and one woman was in critical condition, officials said. Read more: NJ Pauses Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine

The pause also comes at a time when the number of COVID-19 cases continues to remain at a level that's too high in the Garden State. On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that the positivity rate is up 3 percent since Monday, increasing from 8.39 percent to 11.04 percent. Read more: NJ In New CDC Coronavirus Hot Zone: 2nd Highest Case Rate In U.S.

Officials said they are concerned about increased transmission as a result of the variants that have been identified in New Jersey, which includes 1,130 cases of the UK variant and 19 cases of the Brazilian variant.

"When individuals get vaccinated, it helps protect them, their loved ones and their community," Persichilli said. "Millions of people in the United States have been vaccinated safely."

The negative health impacts of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have not yet been felt in New Jersey, Persichilli said. There have been 47,266 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered to women between the ages of 18 and 48 with no adverse effects, she said.

But the stoppage could impact scheduling, and it could work against the state's efforts to stop the spread of the virus.

Vaccination sites in the state have frozen their supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and the state won't get further doses of it until the federal government can further study the issue, she said.

They also don't know if they will get additional doses of Pfizer and Moderna beyond what has already been allocated. Pfizer has said it can supply 10 percent more doses in the U.S. than previously agreed on by May.

Some sites that were only equipped for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are not ready to get either Pfizer or Moderna, officials said.

Johnson & Johnson was being used for some specific populations that would benefit from a one-dose plan, but alternate plans will have to be made for them even if administering the vaccine is more complex.

Persichilli said the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines continue to be safe, noting they don't use the same kind of technology Johnson & Johnson uses. They are mRNA vaccines, while Johnson & Johnson is an adenovirus based vaccine, like the one produced by AstraZeneca.

On Wednesday night, CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices announced that the pause on the use of the vaccine could last another week. During a four-hour meeting, Dr. Grace Lee of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said the data was "imperfect" and taking more time is about "getting better risk estimates." Read more here: More Time Needed On NJ Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine: CDC Panel

Earlier in the day, Medical Advisor and former State Epidemiologist, Dr. Eddy Bresnitz explained what the committee's process looked like before it reached its decision Wednesday night.

"What they're going to do today is the ACIP will review the data, the manufacturer will present data on the six cases," Medical Advisor and former State Epidemiologist Eddy Bresnitz said. "They'll probably review some of the AstraZeneca data because of the similarity, there will be some risk-benefit analysis, and they'll look at some other databases to see whether there are other cases that have been missed.

"There's the pressure of the continuing pandemic with lots of cases around the country, and people are going to want to know. Can we put forward the vaccine even though we have these rare events, or do we go and just use the two-dose vaccines that we currently have. That's a big decision that needs to be made, but it needs to be made quickly."