On April 13, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine provided an update on Ohio’s vaccination plans following the decision to pause the administration of the Johnson and Johnson (Janssen) vaccine.
The majority of the Ohio’s Johnson and Johnson doses were directed to mass vaccination clinics and to 63 public and private 4-year colleges and universities, most of which have already completed their student vaccinations. Approximately 6.8 million people have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in the U.S. Of those, 264,311 vaccinations were administered in Ohio.
Of the mass vaccination clinics and college/university clinics that did plan to offer the Johnson and Johnson vaccine during the week of April 13 most proceeded with their clinics by offering either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. A total of eight sites did not offer any vaccines during week of April 13 as the health community works to recognize, report, and manage any adverse events related to the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
On April 13, Gov. DeWine, Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Stephanie McCloud, and ODh Chief Medical Officer Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, directed all Ohio vaccine providers to temporarily pause using the Johnson and Johnson vaccine following a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The recommendation was made after six people who received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine experienced an extremely rare blood-clotting condition in the United States. The cases have occurred in women between 18 and 48 and the reactions have taken place within 6-13 days after receiving the vaccine.