COVID-19 Briefing: Snohomish County Suspends Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

During the weekly Snohomish County briefing on COVID-19, County Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters announced on Tuesday that the county “has suspended administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.” The rationale comes after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety surveillance systems have collected six reports of Johnson & Johnson vaccinated people experiencing thrombosis. He said.

All six cases include a cerebral vein thrombosis called cerebral sinus thrombosis in US women aged 18-48 years. Symptoms appeared 6 to 13 days after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccination. Spitters emphasized that “this effect seems to be very rare-six cases with nearly 7 million doses of this vaccine nationwide”-or about one millionth.

Spitter warned that symptoms such as severe headaches, abdominal pain, leg pain, and shortness of breath are all “signs of various forms of blood clots that form in the veins.” If you experience these symptoms within 3 weeks of receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, contact your healthcare provider, or if the symptoms are severe, go to the emergency room or call 911.

“It has not yet been clearly established that these events are related to vaccination, but the safety signals it sends do certainly require further review,” Spitters said. The review involves the CDC convening a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Implementation. He said that the board is made up of national experts who are not employed by the CDC and “sees independent academic and other physicians, vaccinologists, and data on this and is safe about whether it raises. “Other experts who comment on the above concerns.”

Snohomish County has previously been vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine about 24,000 times, most or all of which have been given. “There are no reports of safety signals in the area for this vaccine,” Spitters said. “In the meantime, it seems wise to suspend things until the (review) process is complete, preferably until the second half of the week.”

“We have a very robust system in place to detect these concerns,” Spitters said, and healthcare providers report “adverse effects during or after vaccination.” ..Vaccinated people are also encouraged to register V safe, This is a patient-oriented interface that helps the CDC monitor people’s well-being after vaccination. “Probably these discoveries are the result of that powerful system,” Spitters added.

Spitter warned: “False alerts can come from what seems to be a safe and effective vaccine so far, or by unnecessarily undermining confidence in the overall vaccination effort itself, which is essential for future escape. One must be taken seriously, he added, “virtually no medical intervention is 100% risk-free,” and “greater than” for many commonly occurring vaccines and types of medical intervention. There is a risk. ” It is one millionth, a far more unfavorable benefit-to-risk ratio than COVID vaccination. “

Snohomish County remains in Phase 3 of Governor Insley’s plan to reopen the state for a weekly hospitalization rate of COVID-19 per 100,000, but the county rate has recently “raised a bit.” The Spitters said. There are more cases and some hospitalizations. There has been no increase in deaths or long-term care cases in the county, but “all of these indicate that some sort of rollback is needed (as an individual, family or community),” he said. Says.

He recommended that people continue to pay attention and take precautions to prevent further spread of the virus. “I recommend that just because you’re allowed doesn’t mean it’s a good idea,” Spitters said. “Always keep those face covers when you’re not at home, avoid rallies, and keep things out when you have rallies.”

“Let’s try to protect the businesses and all activities that support our society, which are permitted in Phase 3, but to be able to continue, we need to limit our private lives.”

According to Spitters, weekly reports of the spread of viral variants have shown that what is known or originally associated with locations in the United Kingdom and California is “rapidly expanding and increasing all cases. It accounts for an ever-increasing proportion. ” Because they are “more contagious,” they are now “replacement of other strains that are there.”

“We try to protect the businesses and all activities that support our society that are permitted in Phase 3, but to be able to continue, we need to limit our private lives,” he adds. It was.

Snohomish County will be vaccinated with 30,000 doses this week. It is divided into Pfizer products and Moderna products. All Johnson & Johnson vaccines I was supposed to receive have been put on hold.

At current rates, Spitters said it would take about 10-12 weeks to reach about 650,000 eligible adults in the county. “This doesn’t happen overnight, so we recommend both patience and patience when looking for a place to get vaccinated,” he said.

Jason Biaman, director of the Snohomish County Emergency Management Agency, said the Angel of the Winds mass vaccination site would be temporarily shut down due to the suspension of Johnson & Johnson vaccine use. The CDC is about when to resume. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was used at one fixed site in the county, previously scheduled to receive approximately 2,500 of these doses this week.

Biermann said the county will change people’s schedules throughout the week and will notify other potential sites that will reschedule their plans to receive either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. “We will do our best to contain them elsewhere or elsewhere where we were using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” he said. Mobile teams typically serve people in elderly homes, homeless adult families, gather shelters, and even contact people returning home.

“We are making significant strides in our vaccination efforts,” said Biermann, who said that as of last week, more than 150,000 Snohomish County residents were fully vaccinated. This is equivalent to 1 in 4 people over the age of 16.

The Snohomish County Vaccine Task Force has also worked closely with historically marginalized people to develop community-based clinics that serve them. Over the past few weeks, the Task Force has developed a process to outreach various community organizations and notify the Task Force that they are interested in having such a clinic. For their benefit, then we will start their schedule, “he said.

According to Biaman, the Vaccine Task Force is currently administering about 130,000 of the county’s total dose of about 400,000. “Our progress is limited by supply. It continues to be our greatest barrier.”

These supply restrictions occur “at bad times for many reasons,” Biermann said, including the fact that from April 15th, anyone over the age of 16 is eligible for vaccination. “We look forward to a great deal of interest in appointments. Everyone can qualify if they meet the age requirements, but the hierarchy we have developed aims to target the most people. I would like to emphasize that we were at risk first — so we want to recognize that we are trying to reach out to the most endangered people by design. Please be patient. “

He encouraged continued diligence, “Don’t be discouraged. I understand that people get frustrated because promises arrive and are swallowed quickly. Please wait.”

“We were fortunate not to return to Phase 2. As Dr. Spitters said, our case rate is rising and the trajectory is going in the wrong direction,” Biaman said. Said. He noted that three counties in the state had recently been rolled back to a larger Phase 2 health restriction on activity, by which Governor Inslee said he was “serious in implementing the metric.” I sent a clear message. “

“If you exceed the return threshold, you should wear a mask, stay away, and expect to be vaccinated when your turn makes a reservation, especially without gathering indoors.” Said Biermann. “We have to do everything we can to keep the case rate low, so we can keep moving forward and moving towards a new normal.”

Biermann urged people to stay in touch with the county’s website and phone numbers, as well as reservations made by various other health care providers in the county offering vaccinations. He said Arlington and Monroe vaccination sites would be opened later this week to give people the first and second doses. The first dose can be booked on the Boeing Activity Center site and there are other second doses ready to be administered throughout the county.

The location of the vaccination is listed in Snohomish Health District website, With the type of vaccine offered and the registration link for booking .. For those who do not have internet access, need language assistance, or have other barriers to online registration, the Snohomish County COVID-19 Call Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm 425- Available at 339-. 5278.

— By Nathan Blackwell