Hartford Healthcare is gearing up to resume giving out the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
“We're excited to be able to get back to doing that,” said Dr. James Cardon, Hartford Healthcare Executive Vice President.
Recently the CDC and FDA announced a nationwide hold was lifted after 11 days.
That came amid reports of rare but severe blood clots in 15 cases out of nearly eight million doses given in the United States.
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"We are taking every one of these needles in a haystack that we find seriously,” Dr. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on Friday.
Connecticut’s Department of Public Health advised providers to offer the J&J vaccine again.
It pointed out the feds had determined the benefits outweighed the risks.
Hartford Healthcare said it doesn’t have a lot of J&J in stock right now, but it plans to offer it as soon as more arrives.
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“We believe it's an important vaccine in our armamentarium to battle this pandemic,” said Cardon.
Cardon said the J&J vaccine is still very safe and effective.
While some now might be hesitant to get a dose, Cardon believes the pause was helpful to make sure everyone is aware of the rare clots and how to treat them.
“We plan to administrate it. We will do that with both full understanding and communicating, you know, that that is a potential, but also educating folks that this is certainly a lot safer than exposing or getting COVID and all the misery that causes,” said Cardon.
While it’s not clear how quickly J&J will become more available, the one-dose option could be an important piece in the effort to reach herd immunity.
