(KNSI) – The Minnesota Department of Health is advising health care providers to pause their distribution of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which is now under review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration after six vaccine recipients reported developing blood clots.
The six people who developed severe blood clots, according to the MDH, are all women between the ages of 18 and 48 and had symptoms between six and 13 days after their vaccination. The MDH says they are not aware of any cases of blood clots in Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients in Minnesota. Across the country, more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered, including around 184,000 in Minnesota.
“While this issue appears to be extremely rare, CDC and FDA are acting in a very cautious manner that underscores our commitment to vaccine safety,” MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm said. “We will be closely monitoring the federal review process and use that information to help guide our efforts here in Minnesota in the days ahead.”
In a statement, both CentraCare and Carris Health say they are pausing Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccinations following federal agencies’ recommendations to do so.
“This is due to very rare occurrences of blood clots found in younger women who received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccination,” the CentraCare statement reads. “This pause will allow experts time to study these occurrences and determine if these cases were related to the vaccine or other underlying medical conditions. Johnson & Johnson vaccinations will only restart after a thorough review of the findings. ”
The MDH advises that Minnesotans who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should contact their health care provider if they experience shortness of breath, a severe headache, leg pain or abdominal pain during the three weeks after they get the shot.
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