IDPH Restarts J&J Vaccine Allocations This Week

By Benjamin Cox on April 26, 2021 at 8:47am

The Illinois Department of Public Health will resume use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following the announcement Friday night by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that they had lifted the previously recommended pause on the J&J vaccine.

According to IDPH, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices conducted a thorough review of the vaccine after reports of 6 cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals following administration of the J&J vaccine.

The pause of the vaccine on April 12th allegedly allowed experts to conduct an extensive review of the cases, as well as inform providers and clinicians about the potential adverse events and how they can be recognized and treated.

IDPH say that providers in Illinois who previously received doses of the J&J vaccine will be able to immediately begin administering the vaccine again. According to the FDA announcement, allocations of the J&J vaccine by the federal government will resume this week. IDPH says approximately 760,000 doses were allocated to Illinois before the pause, of which approximately 290,000 were administered.

The FDA has concluded that the known and potential benefits of the J&J vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks.