Illinois Department of Public Health pauses use of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Tuesday morning it would pause its use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “out of an abundance of caution.”

In a joint statement Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said they were investigating clots in six women that occurred in the days after vaccination. The clots were observed along with reduced platelet counts – making the usual treatment for blood clots, the blood thinner heparin, potentially “dangerous.”

More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., the vast majority with no or mild side effects.

“[The] IDPH has notified all Illinois COVID-19 providers throughout the state to discontinue use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at this time,” according to a news release from the IDPH. “In order to keep appointments, [the] IDPH is strongly advising providers to use Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.”

Moderna and Pfizer make up the vast majority of doses on hand in Illinois. This week, according to the IDPH, the state’s allocation of the J&J vaccine was 17,000 doses. For the week of April 18, the expected allocation for the state is 483,720 total doses. Of that total allocation, 5,800 doses were expected to be J&J.

“Per the federal health authorities, 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,” according to an IDPH news release. “Patients with other clinical questions should contact their health care provider.”