In a joint nnouncement today, Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio Department of Health Director Stephanie McCloud, and Ohio Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Bruce Vanderhoff, are advising all Ohio vaccine providers to temporarily pause using the Johnson and Johnson (Janssen) vaccine.
According to a press release issued by the governor’s office, the action is in response to a statement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommending a pause in the use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine following extremely rare blood-clotting events of six people in the U.S. after receiving the vaccine.
The FDA and the CDC are scheduled to hold a media briefing on the issue later today.
In addition, the CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices tomorrow to further review these cases.
Officials with the Ohio Department of Health are following this situation closely, the governor’s press release stated.
In light of the recent development, Ohio Northern University announced that it has paused its state-sponsored COVID-19 mobile mass vaccination clinics scheduled in Crawford, Hardin, Logan, Marion, Union, and Wyandot counties. Options for resuming future clinics are being explored, ONU officials said in a press release issued Tuesday morning.
“We have paused scheduling any further appointments at any clinic,” said ONU College of Pharmacy Dean Steven Martin. “We are hopeful that the state can send us a different vaccine so we can keep going.”
ONU pharmacy personnel have a call scheduled this afternoon with DeWine’s office to discuss potential options for alternative vaccine brand administration.
Those who have scheduled clinic appointments, along with the general public, can expect to receive updated information about rescheduled clinics as soon as that information becomes available, ONU officials said in the press release.
HealthWise clinics have been scheduled at various sites through May, and it is hoped that most of those will take place as scheduled. Meanwhile, clinic organizers and state officials are working to acquire two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines while the one-dose Johnson & Johnson brand use remains suspended.
