coronaviruses

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WJPF) — The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Tuesday they would follow new recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pausing the uses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. 

IDPH says the J&J vaccine pause is out of an abundance of caution. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine will still be used. 

Both the CDC and FDA are reviewing new data involving reported cases in the U.S. involving a rare and severe type of blood clot in six women after receiving the J&J vaccine. 

According to IDPH, Moderna and Pfizer make up the vast majority of doses on hand in the State of Illinois. This week, the state’s allocation of J&J was 17,000 doses. For the week of April 18, 2021, the expected allocation for the State is 483,720 total doses. Of that total allocation, 5,800 doses were expected to be J&J.

Per the federal health authorities, people who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider. Patients with other clinical questions should contact their health care provider.