Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday during his weekly COVID-19 update that Arkansas would be pausing administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after several women around the country reported serious blood clots within a few weeks of receiving the vaccine.
Earlier Tuesday, the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint statement recommending a pause in the use of the J&J vaccine as both agencies reviewed the six blood clot cases to determine their appropriate treatment.
The type of blood clots seen in the six women whose cases are being studied is called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis; it was additionally seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets, according to the CDC and FDA’s statement. For the women who had the adverse reaction to the vaccine, the blood clot issue manifested in a unique way, according to the statement, and will need to be treated differently than such clots usually would be.
All the cases of the adverse reaction were in women between the ages of 18 and 48.
Symptoms of the reaction the six women had include severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination. Health care providers who come into contact with such a person, are asked to report the adverse reaction to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System at https://vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html.
Dr. Jose Romero, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, is the chairman of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and on Tuesday began sitting in on a presentation from the Johnson & Johnson company about the issue, and will be providing information from the presentation to the public today, Romero said.
“Because this is an unusual manifestation of thrombosis (blood clotting), we want physicians to understand that this treatment for this particular disease is not your standard treatment. There will be a HAN - Health Alert Network - notification about this and we’ll provide information for treatment. Care providers can reach out to the health department and our physicians will provide you with information,” Romero said.
Romero noted that detection of the adverse effects of the J&J vaccine is a good sign; it means the country’s health and safety protocols for vaccines are working, he said.
“This is an important finding. It is a positive finding, in that our systems for detecting these type of very rare events is working successfully,” he said. “This is a success story, and is one of the reasons we have one of the safest vaccine programs in the world.”
Hutchinson emphasized that only six cases of the unusual blood clotting have been detected, out of approximately 6.8 doses of the J&J vaccine that have been administered nationwide.
“We have confidence in the J&J vaccine, but it is on pause to be sure on the treatment of any adverse reaction. As I was on the White House call today with the CDC, with Dr. (Anthony) Fauci as well and others, they emphasized that when you’re looking at, on a percentage basis, six cases out of 6.8 million doses, that’s less than one out of a million chances (of having the adverse reaction),” Hutchinson said. “Obviously it’s an effective vaccine, but because of that reaction, we want to make sure that the physician community, the health care (providers), have the right information on the treatment of any adverse reaction.”
The J&J vaccine was to be utilized this week in vaccine clinics at the Union County Local Health Unit. Danyelle McNeill, a spokesperson for the ADH, said the vaccine clinics will go on as scheduled, utilizing the Pfizer vaccine instead.
McNeill said some appointments at the local vaccine clinics were cancelled as a result of the pause on the J&J vaccine, but that the ADH is reaching out to those whose appointments were cancelled to reschedule.
The vaccine clinics at the Union County Local Health Unit will be held Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Call the ADH vaccine hotline at 1-800-985-6030 to set an appointment. The vaccine will be given at no cost, though those with insurance are asked to bring their cards.
McNeill noted that the situation is fluid and subject to change, and recommended calling the ADH vaccine hotline for the most up-to-date information on the local clinics.
Hutchinson urged Arkansans not to let the pause on the J&J vaccine prevent them from setting an appointment to get vaccinated. He said there are enough doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in Arkansas to allow vaccinations to continue uninterrupted.
He compared the rate of new cases in Arkansas against Michigan, which is currently seeing a second wave of COVID infections and which saw its first peak in cases one month before Arkansas did, and noted that the state’s positivity rate has increased slightly recently.
“Will we go up and peak again, just as we followed Michigan and some of the other state’s before? We lagged behind them in our (new COVID cases) trend line. Now, that’s why we’re at a crossroads. We can avoid that second peak by making sure we protect ourselves … Get the vaccine. We need everyone to participate in this,” he said. “Don’t delay, because we are in a race. We’re in a race against time to get the vaccinations out before we start going up in our cases again.”
“The concern is that that slight tick up in the positivity rate is the reason we had a little bit higher number of cases,” he added. “So be aware that the virus is still here and we need to get our vaccinations.”
The governor also said Tuesday that homebound Arkansans can call the ADH vaccine hotline to arrange for vaccination against COVID-19. He said the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care (AFMC) will be assisting the state in organizing vaccine deliveries for homebound Arkansans.
“If you’re homebound, please feel free to call the vaccine call line … We can use our local clinics so that we can deliver and make sure that you’re hooked up with somebody that can get you the vaccine,” he said. “Call that number and we’ll make sure that happens.”
Arkansans who have yet to receive their second dose of a Pfizer or Moderna-brand COVID vaccine can also expect to receive a call from the AFMC in the near future, he said. The foundation will start issuing second dose reminder calls this Saturday.
“If you didn’t get that second dose, you might expect a call saying ‘please go in and get that second dose,’ because we want you fully immunized,” he said.
Arkansas Department of Corrections Secretary Solomon Graves also provided an update on the ADC’s staff and inmate vaccination efforts. He said that as of Tuesday morning, 3,333 ADC workers had been vaccinated, and 719 inmates had been. By April 21, he said, 7,454 inmates will have received their first dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine.
“That number is based on surveys of our inmates (by) staff where inmates indicated their planned acceptance of the vaccine,” he said.
All inmates who ask for the vaccine are due to have received their dose administered by May 19, he said.
Hutchinson noted that the number of new cases reported statewide on Tuesday, 224, was more than the 163 new cases reported last Tuesday. He said testing continues to be modest around the state, and that since fewer people have been getting tested for the virus, the positivity rate has risen as a result.
He also said that while vaccinations slowed down over the weekend, they had picked back up by Monday.
“On the vaccine front, we were slow over the weekend, but it picks up during the week, “ he said. “We want to continue to see that at a high level.”
See local COVID case numbers here.