J&J Pause May Impact Some King County Vaccine Appointments

KING COUNTY, WA — In line with state and federal guidance, King County paused the use of all Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines Tuesday as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examines reports that six Americans developed blood clots after receiving a dose.

The CDC said its recommendation was made out of an "abundance of caution," with only a half dozen instances recorded among more than 6.8 million doses of the single-dose vaccine administered across the nation. Federal officials said the six cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 48, who experienced rare and severe symptoms between 6 and 13 days after vaccination.

On Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Health announced a statewide pause but noted none of the six women were from Washington. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines make up the bulk of the state's vaccine supply, with J&J doses accounting for about 149,000 shots among the more than four million administered in Washington. This week's J&J shipments were expected to include fewer than 13,000 doses, with even less expected in the coming weeks.

Still, the pause will have some impact on King County's vaccination efforts, and providers that relied on the J&J doses are working to replace them with Pfizer or Moderna.

In South King County, where the Auburn mass vaccination site planned to offer the single-dose vaccine all week, previously scheduled appointments will now use Moderna vaccines. The interruption, however, has led to a temporary pause in scheduling new appointments.

In Seattle, thousands of J&J doses were supporting immunization efforts at the West Seattle Hub. Now, appointments will use Pfizer doses. The region's newest mass vaccination site, at Lake Sammamish State Park, uses Moderna vaccines supplied by the Snoqualmie Tribe and is unaffected.

The pause will impact efforts for some community partners, and officials announced a temporary pause for vaccinations inside King County jails, where several COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred.

Here is the list of expected impacts provided by Public Health - Seattle & King County:

• Auburn high-volume vaccination site at the Auburn Outlet Mall: Anyone who currently has an appointment scheduled at the Auburn Outlet Mall vaccination site can keep their appointment and receive the Moderna vaccine instead of J&J. The Auburn site has paused scheduling new appointments.
• Kent high-volume vaccination site at Showare Center: Appointments at the Kent vaccination site use the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and are not affected.
• Community partner vaccination sites: Several thousand J&J doses were distributed to community partners by Public Health this week. Public Health has contacted them to pause administering J&J vaccines and await further information.
• City of Seattle community vaccination fixed sites: All currently scheduled appointments will remain scheduled using the Pfizer vaccine.
• Mobile vaccination: Public Health’s planned mobile vaccine visits to homeless service sites and homebound individuals will use Moderna vaccine instead of J&J.
• King County jails: Vaccination is currently paused.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, King County's health officer, shared a statement Tuesday afternoon, promising more information in the coming days.

“The J&J vaccine provides great benefits in protecting people from serious COVID-19 infections. National vaccine safety monitoring systems have identified an association between this vaccine and a rare type of serious blood clotting disorder. This safety signal has not been identified with the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna. Over the coming days, we will have more information about the risk of this rare event after vaccination in relation to the benefits of vaccination, including risk related to age and gender, and whether any changes are needed in how we use the J&J vaccine.”

For those who received a J&J shot in the last three weeks, public health officials said patients should monitor their health for signs of concern and contact a health care provider if they develop:

• Severe headaches
• Abdominal pain
• Leg pain
• Shortness of breath

Those who received the shot more than a month ago have an even lower risk of developing complications, officials said. Residents previously scheduled for a J&J appointment are encouraged to reach out to the provider and verify their appointment status.

Learn more about getting vaccinated in King County on the public health website.