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 Earlier Tuesday, at the recommendation of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), IDPH paused the use of the J&J
COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution. The CDC and FDA are
reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and
severe type blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J
vaccine, out of a total of more than six million Americans who have
received the J&J vaccine. In Illinois, of the total 7.3 million
doses administered to date, 4% or approximately 290,000 have been
J&J. These individuals remain fully vaccinated and do not need to
seek out an alternate vaccine. People vaccinated with J&J should
consult with their medial provider if they develop severe headache,
abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks
after vaccination.
“Public health officials made a commitment that any safety signals
that came up concerning COVID-19 vaccines would be fully addressed
in a transparent manner, which is what is occurring right now with
the J&J vaccine,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “The blood
clot cases appear to be extremely rare and there are no reported
cases associated with either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna
vaccines. IDPH is taking immediate action to ensure as little
disruption to Illinois residents as possible during this pause, and
I strongly encourage people to continue to get vaccinated. Millions
upon millions of people have already been safely vaccinated and it
will take millions more before we can put this pandemic behind us.”
Upon learning of the recommendation, IDPH took the following actions
to ensure COVID-19 vaccine providers and health care workers in
Illinois were aware of the pause and received the support they
needed to adjust their planning:
• Immediately sent notification about the pause to COVID-19
providers, local health departments, and health care providers via
the State of Illinois Rapid Electronic Notification system, which
included follow-up calls, text, and emails.
• Directly emailed and called all local health departments
through IDPH Emergency Response Coordinators, to assess impact and
work to mitigate using Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
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• Connected with all mass vaccination sites,
Illinois National Guard vaccination missions, and one-day J&J
clinics scheduled in EMTrack to develop alternate plans where
necessary and ensure the least amount of disruption possible on
individuals with appointments.
• Sent notification to hospitals, emergency departments,
physicians, and other health care providers about treatment for this
specific type of blood clot
The pause on the J&J vaccine will not have a large
impact on state vaccination efforts as the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccines make up the vast majority of doses on hand in the State of
Illinois. No state-supported mass vaccination sites will be closed
and no rapid response team clinics, faith-based or equity clinics,
or rural clinics have been cancelled at this time. They will all
move forward with a different type of vaccine.
The total allocation of J&J vaccine to Illinois, including Chicago,
is 760,300, of which 290,615 doses have been administered. This
week, the state’s allocation of J&J was 17,000 doses. For the week
of April 18, 2021, the expected allocation for the State is 483,720
total doses. Of that total allocation, 5,800 doses were expected to
be J&J.
In an effort to vaccinate as many people as possible across
Illinois, the State is allocating 50,000 first doses of Moderna and
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to the City of Chicago over the next seven
days to help meet demand. The State will also be allocating 50,000
doses to Chicago when second doses come due to be administered.
IDPH encourages people to register with V-safe After Vaccination
Health Checker, a smartphone-based tool that uses text messages and
web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after you
receive a COVID-19 vaccine. For more information on v-safe, go to
https://www
.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/
vaccines/safety/vsafe.html.
[Illinois Office of Communication and
Information] |
