Princeton Health Department Pauses Use Of J&J COVID-19 Vaccine

PRINCETON, NJ — After the New Jersey Department of Health ordered a pause on the use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine over concerns over a small number of blood clots some people, the Princeton Health Department will remain in a holding pattern with the vaccine until further notice, officials said Tuesday.

Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser wrote in an email that the department received 100 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine on Monday. He said those doses will be placed into storage until the local health department receives further word from state health officials.

A vaccination clinic that was scheduled to take place in Princeton next week will be rescheduled and doses of the Moderna vaccine will be used in the place of the J&J vaccine, Grosser wrote in the email to Patch. Local health officials are still working on logistics for the event on Tuesday, Grosser said.

New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Tuesday morning that out of an abundance of caution and following the guidance of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U. S. Food and Drug Administration, the New Jersey Department of Health this morning paused the administration of the J&J vaccine across all vaccination sites in the state.

All New Jersey vaccination sites have been told to cancel or put on hold appointments for the J&J vaccine until further notice, state health officials announced.

The FDA and CDC ordered the pause to review data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the 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.

"Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare," the FDA said. "Treatment of this specific type of blood clot is different from the treatment that might typically be administered."

Also on Tuesday, several national chain pharmacies – including Walgreens and CVS – and more regional outlets such as Wegman's and Stop and Shop – announced that they have paused vaccinations using the J&J vaccines until further notice.

Patch editors Tom Davis and Alexis Tarrazi contributed reporting to this story.