Gov. Justice: In accordance with CDC and FDA, all Johnson & Johnson vaccine administration paused in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice announced today that out of an abundance of caution and upon the recommendation released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, all use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in West Virginia will be paused immediately until further notice.

Clinics that are scheduled to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will substitute with another COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer as supplies allow.

“The safety of West Virginians is always our first and foremost priority,” Gov. Justice said. “This pause will not impact our ability to continue vaccinating West Virginians, and is exactly the reason why we stood up our Joint Interagency Task Force led by our West Virginia National Guard. They were absolutely ready for this scenario.”

The WV DHHR, through the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), has not received any reports of these extremely rare blood-clotting events in West Virginia residents who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The DHHR will continue to monitor for instances going forward.

“The finding of abnormal blood clotting is extremely rare in citizens receiving the J&J vaccine, and in response to FDA and CDC guidance, and acting out of a great amount of caution, we will pause vaccinations with the J&J product for now,” West Virginia Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh said. “The fact that CDC and FDA are acting out of caution for 6 clotting episodes in 6.8 million doses given should reassure West Virginia residents that we are watching any and all associated findings in those vaccinated to make sure safety is our priority. We know that the key to saving lives and improving outcomes from COVID-19 in West Virginia is continuing to choose to be vaccinated. We have sufficient Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to continue our goal of vaccinating all West Virginia residents, and the key to our success or failure to save lives and protect WV citizens is the number of people choosing to get vaccinated.”