(KMOX) - Following the recommendations of some major U.S. public health organizations, health leadership in both Missouri and Illinois are pausing use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution. They are investigating six cases of rare and severe blood clots in persons after receiving the J&J vaccine.
Both the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services are abiding by recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The national organizations made the announcement on Tuesday morning.
Related
The New York Times first reported on Tuesday that the six people who became sick are women between 18 and 48 years old. The Times reports one of the them died and another is in the hospital in critical condition. U.S. health officials stress that “these adverse events appear to be extremely rare.” These six cases are out of 6.8 million doses that have been administered in the United States as of Monday.
In order to keep scheduled vaccination appointments, IDPH is strongly advising providers to use Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider. Patients with other clinical questions should contact their health care provider or call the COVID-19 hotline at 877-435-8411.
“We anticipate having more information shortly to make further decisions about overall vaccine distribution in light of this new development and will continue to update citizens who have been vaccinated with the J&J vaccine after the advisory committee meets at the federal level tomorrow," said Dr. Randall Williams, director of the DHSS.
Moderna and Pfizer make up the vast majority of doses on hand in the State of Illinois. This week, the state’s allocation of J&J was 17,000 doses. For the week of April 18, 2021, the expected allocation for the State is 483,720 total doses. Of that total allocation, 5,800 doses were expected to be J&J.
Missouri didn't release it's information on vaccine doses in Tuesday's announcement.
This is a breaking news story that will be udpated.
© 2021 KMOX (Audacy). All rights reserved