Valley Hospital Hits The Brakes On Johnson & Johnson Vaccines

PARAMUS, NJ — Valley Health officials have hit the pause button on administering Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but won't have to cancel any appointments because of it.

The hospital is currently administering doses of the Pfizer vaccine at their Paramus location, officials said, and didn't have any Johnson & Johnson appointments scheduled. They will begin administering the Moderna vaccine once more supply comes in.

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.

Both agencies recommended a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday.

Roughly 235,000 doses have been administered in the state, with none of those patients reporting any similar effects, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday.

The state issued guidance that put a pause on all Johnson & Johnson vaccinations in New Jersey on Tuesday.

"All New Jersey vaccination sites have been told to cancel or put on hold appointments for the J&J vaccine until further notice. For individuals scheduled to receive the J&J vaccine, the Department will work with all vaccination sites to make arrangements for the administration of an alternative two-dose vaccine. We will work with all sites, as needed, to reschedule vaccination appointments," said Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.

This includes places like Valley, but also pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens. Read more: NJ Pharmacies To Stop Using Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

Still, Murphy said this shouldn't impact the state's herd immunity timeline.

"Even with this pause, our overall goal of vaccination 4.7 million adult New Jerseyans remains not only in place, but entirely achievable," he said.

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