Public health officials in D.C., Maryland and Virginia have temporarily stopped the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine after federal health officials advised doing so while they investigate six reported cases of a rare type of blood clotting.
The Virginia Department of Health said Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the death of a Virginia woman as part of its probe of the J&J vaccine, WTTG-TV (Channel 5) reported.
Gov. Ralph Northam tweeted Tuesday the one-dose vaccine will be paused until the CDC and Food and Drug Administration’s investigations are done.
Virginia’s health department said those with Johnson & Johnson appointments will be rescheduled, WTTG reported.
Neither D.C. nor Maryland has not reported any deaths or blood clots linked to the product.
Maryland has paused walk-up vaccinations at mass-vaccination sites in Hagerstown and Salisbury. Public health officials said Johnson & Johnson appointments will be honored, but with the two-dose Pfizer vaccine instead, WTTG reported.
In D.C., the city health department said Johnson & Johnson appointments between April 13-17 have been canceled and those affected will receive an invitation Wednesday evening to book another appointment for later this week or next week, WTTG reported.
More than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in the U.S., with the overwhelming majority of recipients experiencing mild or no side effects.