Raleigh, NC – Several COVID-19 vaccine providers stopped administering Johnson & Johnson vaccine after several side effects were reported on Thursday.
Wake County spokeswoman Stacy Beard said 18 people had an adverse reaction to the vaccine at the PNC Arena clinic. More than 2,300 Johnson & Johnson vaccines were given at the clinic on Thursday, meaning that 0.78% of patients who received the vaccine had a reaction.
Fourteen people who had a reaction were evaluated by Wake County EMS at the PNC Arena and treated on the spot. Four people were taken to a local hospital for evaluation and are expected to be released.
Symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, fainting and an allergic reaction have been reported by those who have reported reactions.
“All individuals are being monitored. If they are worried, we are monitoring them for 30 minutes. So most indications were caught at first,” said Ryan Jury, who oversees Wake County’s vaccination efforts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday night, the recommended vaccines continue at PNC Arena after health experts found no safety issues or concerns.
In a statement, the CDC said it was aware of receiving the vaccine that reports dizziness, dizziness, fainting, rapid breathing and sweating after receiving the vaccine in Iowa, Colorado, Georgia and North Carolina.
Prior to the CDC announcement, the county health official discontinued Johnson & Johnson vaccinations on Friday. The mass vaccination clinic will only offer the two-dose Pfizer vaccine on Friday.
“There are other products we’ve been using for months, but if you look at how long we’ve been using Johnson & Johnson, it’s not necessarily that long. So we are uncertain about what is normal, what is not normal. We are really very young in childhood right now and [we’re] just trying to assess what the causes were, there is cause for concern, “the jury said.
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“There is no higher priority than the safety and well-being of the people we serve. When we receive adverse event reports from people who receive our medications and vaccines, we collect the necessary information and carefully evaluate the events. Reports about people receiving our COVID -19 vaccine and the evaluation of these reports are shared with the US Food and Drug Administration and other appropriate health authorities. This is part of the established process of informing the comprehensive surveillance programs of health authorities that monitor the general safety of medicines, as well as vaccines authorized for use against this pandemic, “a Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman said in a statement. about the adverse reaction to the vaccine at PNC Arena.
Johnson & Johnson doses in Wake County will be stored and stored until additional information is collected.
UNC Health spokesman Alan Wolf said the medical system is discontinuing Johnson & Johnson vaccine at all UNC Health vaccine clinics after a small number of beneficiaries reported fainting at the Center on Friday.
In a statement, UNC Health said more than 2,200 Johnson & Johnson vaccines were given at the Friday Center and Hillsborough Hospital clinic. The specific number of people who had a reaction to the vaccine was not given.
Wolf said UNC Health is re-evaluating for Friday, and the break is until officials can get better control over what happens.
Dr. David Wohl, an infectious disease specialist at UNC Health, said that in the next few days, health experts will study the safety reports, analyze each reaction and look for ways to calm those who are nervous during the shooting. .
“I don’t think this is an allergic reaction. Most of the people I’ve seen here today who have fainted have a history of fainting, especially around those. So it’s very difficult,” Wohl explained. . “We also vaccinate different people than we did before. Many times, people get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because they are against it and don’t want to get hit. We’re just trying to make sure it’s the vaccine or the people who get the vaccine or a combination of both. “
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Duke University’s health system has said it will continue to administer Johnson & Johnson vaccines because side effects have not been reported at its clinics.
“Duke Health received the Janssen (J&J) vaccine from the same batch number identified at the vaccine clinic in Wake County, but the shipment was sent directly to Duke without intermediaries. No patients at Duke had serious incidents. The minor side effects of the vaccine were in line with those reported by the manufacturer before authorization and remain within the expected limits, “Thomas Owens, president of Duke University Hospital and senior vice president of Duke Health, said in a statement.
Of the 2.2 million people completely vaccinated against coronavirus in North Carolina, only 8% received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This means that about 167,000 people received the vaccine, ie about 1.5% of the state’s population.
The number of people receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is likely to increase as the number of doses coming into the state has increased dramatically. This week, the state received nearly 150,000 doses, compared to less than 60,000 last week. That number was more than the number of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines that came into the state this week.
