OXFORD, Maine (AP) Maine officials told health care providers Tuesday to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following new guidance from federal officials.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited six reports of a rare but dangerous type of blood clot in recipients of the vaccine, but none of those have been reported in Maine.
“Given this recommendation, the state of Maine is advising that providers pause administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine until the U.S. CDC’s scientific advisory committee has further reviewed the safety data,” according to a statement issued by Gov. Janet Mills, Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We understand that this pause will impact Maine people who were scheduled to receive the J&J/Janssen vaccine,” Shah tweeted.
Also, the J&J vaccine was being used in the state’s mobile vaccination unit that has been scheduled to travel to rural areas across the state. This week the mobile unit, which launched Monday, is in the parking lot of the Oxford Casino in western Maine. The mobile unit is on hold Tuesday, said Robert Long, a spokesman for Maine CDC.
All told, 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.