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Following State, Tippecanoe County Suspends Use of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

Indiana Department of Health

Tippecanoe County health officials announced on Tuesday they would follow the state’s lead and pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

 

 

  

The decision comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched an investigation after six of the 6.8-million people who took the vaccine developed rare blood clots. 

The occurrence of this type of clot -- cerebral venous sinus thrombosis with low levels of blood platelets -- is very rare, appearing in 0.000088 percent of those who’ve been vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The six cases developed in women between the ages of 18 and 48, with symptoms occurring between six and 13 days after vaccination. According to the CDC and FDA, treatment of this particular type of blood clot is different from a more typical clot. 

In a written statement, Tippecanoe County Health Officer Dr. Jeremy Adler noted that the number of people to develop the blood clot is less than one in a million, and it isn’t yet clear if the clotting problem is caused by the vaccine. 

The health department hosted a vaccination clinic in Lafayette over the weekend that only served the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. 

The pause is not expected to impact Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Dr. Jim Bien is the chief medical officer for IU Health Arnett. He said the risk of side effects is incredibly small. 

“I’m actually more concerned about the impact on public confidence in the vaccine. The story’s getting a lot of news as I guess it should but the risk is incredibly small especially when you hold it up against the risk of side effects and complications from the disease itself.”

Bien said he wants to reassure anyone who received the Johnson & Johnson and is feeling anxious right now that possible side effects are incredibly rare. 

But he said people who get a severe headache, severe abdominal pain, leg pains, or shortness of breath should seek advice from their physician. 

“I’d hope that people would hear this as evidence of a vaccine distribution system that’s super sensitive to the smallest signals of possible harm,” Bien said. “I’m taking it as evidence that the system is really sensitive to even potentially very very low-risk complications.”