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Arkansas pauses Johnson & Johnson vaccine clinics after rare blood clot reports

The Arkansas Dept. of Health is pausing any Johnson & Johnson vaccine clinics after the CDC and FDA recommended it due to six blood clotting cases.

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommended a pause on the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, the Arkansas Department of Health is halting the use of the vaccine.

An official with ADH said all clinics using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be canceled. The department has also told providers to halt any future clinics as well.

Clinics that use the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines will continue as normal.

The CDC and FDA said in a joint statement that they were investigating blood clots in six women that occurred six to 13 days after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

More than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine have been given in the United States, with the majority having mild or no side effects.

"Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare," the FDA said in its statement. "This is important to ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot."

"We had up to 2,000 doses available and this morning we were rudely awakened with some different news," Ty Ledbetter, Conway COVID-19 Coordinator, said.

According to Ledbetter, the stage was set for the city of Conway to host its Johnson & Johnson vaccination clinic Friday, April 16.

"We've been working on this since before the vaccine was announced. It was just getting the vaccine in hand to put it in arms," he said. 

With only 24 hours of sign-ups opened and 150 slots filled, Ledbetter said changes had to be quickly made after the health department made its announcement.

"We are in the process of transitioning that Johnson & Johnson clinic into a Pfizer clinic," he said.

Similar steps were taken across the state with pharmacies and hospitals. 

Dr. Robert Hopkins, with UAMS, said they aren't slowing anything down. The hospital is just putting their over 2,000 J&J doses aside and bringing out Pfizer.

"Hopefully it's going to be a very uncommon event, but it is serious, and we need to be aware of it," he said.

Like many things, Hopkins said, vaccines have a timeline attached, so depending on how long the pause lasts is when worry could sink in.

"If we get three, four weeks down the road, then I'm going to start to be concerned that we may have some vaccine wastage," he said.

While future waste issues are unknown, Governor Hutchinson said in his press conference on Tuesday, that current supply issues won't be.

Combined, the state has over 423,000 Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on hand.

"We will continue our vaccination program uninterrupted. It continues at a rapid pace," he said, reminding Arkansans to continue stepping in line. "No one should delay getting a vaccination because of the pause on one part of the vaccination."

Kroger announced Tuesday that its pharmacies will pause giving out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Patients that were scheduled to receive that vaccine will be provided with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Walmart also announced Tuesday it will immediately be pausing administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. If someone has an appointment and another vaccine is available, they will receive that vaccine. If not, the appointment will be rescheduled. 

    

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