KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas lifted its pause on administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and will resume giving the single-dose inoculations, Gov. Laura Kelly announced Monday.
The state had paused administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 13, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the pause to investigate a rare occurrence of people developing a dangerous blood-clotting condition after receiving the vaccine.
"Today, Kansas will resume administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine," Kelly said in a statement. “After a brief pause and a thorough review, the CDC and FDA have determined the vaccine is safe and effective. Whether it’s the Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer or Moderna, I strongly encourage every Kansan to get vaccinated as soon as they can.”
Kelly asked health care providers who are administering the vaccine to review a Johnson & Johnson vaccine fact sheet and afact sheet for recipients and caregivers, which have been updated since the pause.
The vaccine was created by Belgian drug research and development giant Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which Johnson & Johnson owns.
Kansas is expected to get a Johnson & Johnson vaccine shipment with 1,700 doses next week, according to Kelly.
Johnson County announced shortly before 5 p.m. Monday that it will resume distribution of the single-dose vaccine, which the county's Department of Health and Environment reserves "for populations that may have difficulty getting to our vaccination clinic." That includes people who are homebound, homeless or living in shelters.
Statement regarding the restart of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Johnson County, KS. #SleeveUpJoCo pic.twitter.com/s1ttXUPpg5
— JCDHE (@JOCOHealth) April 26, 2021
Johnson County also expressed faith in the decision by federal health authorities to resume permitting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be administered.
"The FDA and CDC have confidence that the J&J vaccine is safe and effective and so do we," the county health department said in a statement. "A person's risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19 is much higher than an adverse reaction from any of the three approved COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines are a life-saving tool that will help us end the pandemic. Please get vaccinated as soon as you can."
