Following a recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control Friday afternoon, Los Angels County’s chief science officer, Dr. Paul Simon, said the county is preparing to quickly restart administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine pending federal health officials giving their final approval.
An advisory panel for the CDC said the single-dose vaccine can be administered as long as it has a warning label about potential risk for blood clots. The federal agency panel said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the potential risks.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was paused nationwide on April 13 following federal health recommendations after six U.S. women between the ages of 18 and 48 developed very rare but serious blood clots after receiving the vaccine. Nearly 7 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered to the U.S. public nationwide.
The city’s mass vaccination site at the Long Beach Convention Center paused its distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine the same day. It’s not clear if the city will also resume use of the vaccine; officials did not immediately respond to a phone call.
Of the 15,000 Johnson & Johnson doses Long Beach has received—11,500 of those allocated directly to the health department—only 5,567 doses had been administered by mid-April, city officials said earlier.
Staff writer Cheantay Jensen contributed to this report.