PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey health departments have told providers they can start administering Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses again now that it's been given the greenlight the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Johnson & Johnson shot was suddenly pulled last week after very rare blood clotting cases emerged — 15 out of eight million people vaccinated, all women.
At least one area health expert believes the pause was a good thing.
Delaware Division of Public Health Director Dr. Karyl Rattay said she was asked a lot over the past week and a half if the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause frustrated her.
"My response has been, this action should really bolster the confidence of the American people in the vaccine safety processes," she said.
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"That these agencies would take a break from the millions of ongoing vaccinations with J&J to better understand and be transparent about this issue really shows just how seriously they take the safety of these vaccines," Rattay explained.
Now that Johnson & Johnson has been given the OK, she feels good moving forward too.
"People should feel confident about being vaccinated with the J&J vaccine based on, again, the low rate of incidents, and also based on the fact that the medical community has now certainly been made aware of the potential issue and how best to treat it," Rattay assured.
The Johnson & Johnson doses will now come with a blood clotting warning, and information about symptoms for which people should look out.