AUBURN – The Southeast District Health Department is pausing administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommendations.

A joint statement by federal authorities Tuesday recommends the nationwide pause after receiving reports of a rare, but severe, type of blood clot in individuals who had received the vaccine.

Only six instances of the severe clotting are known among the 6.8 million who have received the vaccine across the United States. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said last week that an individual in Douglas County, whose age is in the late 40s, developed blood clots two weeks after receiving the J&J vaccine.

Grant Brueggeman of the health district said the pause is a transparent and deliberate decision to allow time for a thorough review and investigation.

Brueggeman said the J&J vaccine was not the primary vaccine used in the district. The health district vaccine dashboard says 17,307 Moderna vaccines have been administered, about 77 percent of the total vaccinations. 4,203 Pfizer vaccines are 18 percent of the total.

There have been 754 J&J vaccines administered in the district, about 3 percent of the total.

The J&J vaccine was also a small part of the state’s plans this week because officials expected to receive only 3,300 doses after getting 27,600 the prior week.

The health district vaccine dashboard says 42 percent of the population has been at least partially vaccinated and 29 percent fully vaccinated.   Of people age 75 and older, 67 percent have been vaccinated.

27 percent of the population remains unvaccinated.

Otoe County is 30 percent vaccinated, Nemaha County is 31 percent, Richardson County is 27 percent and Pawnee County is 24 percent vaccinated.

Individuals who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and develop a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks should contact their health provider. Any adverse reactions to the vaccines should be reported into the CDC’s vaccine adverse events reporting system.

There are no recommendations to pause other vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna.

 

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