ARIZONA – Embry Health will be pulling the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines from all of their testing sites until further notice from the FDA and CDC. Arizona counties will also be suspending the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The CDC and FDA have advised suspending the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine due to rare blood clots reported in six women out of the 6.8 million vaccines administered. These events occurred within 6–13 days after receiving the vaccine in women between the ages of 18–48.
According to The New York Times, one woman died, and one is in critical condition. They had an occurrence of a rare form of blood clots, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST, along with low levels of blood platelets or thrombocytopenia.
Call your healthcare provider if you have experienced severe headaches, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, leg pain, and possibly blurred vision. Ensure you let them know you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This is a rare type of blood clot and is treated differently than a typical blood clot, where the person would receive a blood thinner, such as heparin.
If you received the vaccine and haven’t developed any side effects associated with a blood clot within three weeks, the risk of an adverse reaction is unlikely. Most people receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had mild to no side effects. Basically, if you do not have any symptoms, you don’t need to do anything. If a patient has an adverse effect, it should be reported to VAERS, a vaccine reporting agency for adverse events.
The Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines use the same technology. It uses a cold virus called an adenovirus to carry the spike gene into the body. Johnson & Johnson uses a human adenovirus to create the vaccine, and AstraZeneca uses a chimpanzee adenovirus.
Pfizer and Moderna are different. They train the body to recognize the spike protein that coats the outer surface of the coronavirus. Embry Health will continue to provide Moderna vaccines to the public based on county allocation and to employers interested in getting their employees vaccinated on-site. Companies of any size can set up vaccination events, knowing they’ll be able to safely return with Embry Health.
Embry Health operates the widest network of COVID-19 test locations in the state of Arizona. Embry Health continues to provide free PCR COVID-19 testing, antibody testing, COVID-19 vaccinations, and flu vaccinations to the public, regardless of their medical insurance access.
Find out more about Embry Health, including the variety of testing services and job opportunities, by visiting EmbryHealth.com or calling (480) 376 – 2170.