J&J vaccine has slow day as rollout resumes in Miami, but officials expect a busy week
On the Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s first day back in use, the Miami-Dade College North Campus administered just under 200 doses on Sunday, out of the 3,000 shots available at the federally supported site.
The pause on the J&J vaccine against COVID-19 — which started on April 13 after several women developed blood clots — was lifted on Friday after experts at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration agreed that the benefits of the vaccine substantially outweighed the risks. A federal advisory committee also recommended lifting the pause on the same day.
The Miami-Dade site, along with two others in Tampa and Orlando, were the first locations to resume administering the one-dose vaccine in Florida.
Both the FDA and CDC have said the condition, called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), is “extremely rare” after getting the Johnson & Johnson shot. The condition is coupled with low blood platelet counts, which together make a pattern that’s even more rare, according to experts.
“The bottom line is now you have options, you have choices,” said Mike Jachles, chairman of the Florida Association of Public Information Officers, who is assisting with press relations at the Florida Division of Emergency Management’s federally-supported vaccination sites in Miami-Dade County.
Jachles added that people have asked many questions about the J&J vaccine during its renewed rollout, which includes a new consent and screening form with more questions on underlying conditions. None of the state or county vaccine sites — or mobile sites supported by the Federal Emergency Management Administration — are currently administering the J&J vaccine.
“We know that the introduction of the J&J was pretty quick,” said Jachles at a press conference Sunday. “That’s an individual decision. If you have any conditions or any concerns, we urge you to speak to your health care provider first to see which vaccine is better suited for you.”
The MDC North Campus will continue administering doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at least until May, but Monday is currently the last day to schedule second doses. The sites daily capacity of first doses is 2,000 vaccines, while they have unlimited capacity for second doses, Jachles said. On Monday, he noted there are about 4,800 people scheduled to get second shot.
“We’re continuing first dose Pfizer. We might be wrapping up second dose Pfizer,” said Jachles. The MDC North Campus site is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and is accepting all Florida residents with proof of residency. Teens ages 16 and 17 can get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine if they are accompanied by a legal guardian who must show proof of that guardianship.
The MDC North site and the mobile sites on Sunday also surpassed a quarter million vaccines administered since March 2nd, when it first opened, with about 256,403 shots given out at the main facility and through the satellite facilities. While officials are stressing the message that the J&J vaccine is safe to curb vaccine hesitancy, Jachles said demand has been relatively low in the past few weeks, partly because of the federal pause.
“Certainly there have been factors, such as the pause of the J&J and things like that, but we are very proactive in getting the message out and letting people know the vaccines are available,” said Jachles. “We’re anticipating a busy week. We’re prepared for it, we can handle it.”
Meanwhile, Jachles highlighted that there has been a spike in COVID-19 testing, according to new numbers from the Hard Rock Stadium, a testing and vaccine site managed by the state. He said recent figures show the site is often doing more than 3,400 tests daily.
Whether health officials can combat new hesitancy borne out of the federal pause on the vaccine remains to be seen. But Jachles said the importance of getting vaccinated early is underscored in his own social circles. An acquaintance who he noted had been reluctant to get the vaccine recently heeded Jachles’ advice and got the first shot of one of the vaccines. Several weeks later, the person tested positive for COVID-19.
“They were exposed, they tested positive with very minimal symptoms of the virus. No question whatsoever that had this person not had the vaccine their symptoms would have been much more severe and could have very well landed them in the hospital,” Jachles said.
He added: “You can still transmit, you can still get the virus. But the vaccines can save your life by not giving you severe symptoms of the coronavirus.”
This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 10:36 PM.
