Somerset County Suspends J&J Vaccinations Following CDC/FDA Guidance Regarding “Extremely Rare” Reactions

Out of an Abundance of Caution, County Will Shift Moderna Allocations to Senior Clinics and Pause Current Homebound Efforts Until Guidance Changes Following the recommendation of the CDC and FDA to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) one-shot COVID vaccine due to an “extremely rare” complication, the Somerset County Department of Health (SCDoH) is suspending its use.

SOMERVILLE, NJ – Following the recommendation of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) one-shot COVID vaccine due to an “extremely rare” complication, the Somerset County Department of Health (SCDoH) is suspending its use for all populations. “Somerset County has not seen any adverse reactions to the J&J vaccine at our clinics, but we will be suspending use of the vaccine immediately out of an abundance of caution,” said Dr. Namitha Reddy, director of the Somerset County Department of Health. “We look forward to the CDC and FDA’s revised guidance, but until the J&J vaccine is again approved we will continue to quickly administer every dose of Moderna or other vaccine allocated from the state to the residents of Somerset County.”

Somerset County will continue its effort to vaccinate residents on its waiting list by shifting Moderna allocations to senior and underserved “closed POD” clinics, but will be suspending the homebound vaccination program until the CDC and FDA complete their review.

Somerset County will continue to add residents to its Homebound and Senior Citizen waiting lists in anticipation of future allocations. To add someone to these lists please call the County COVID Hotline at (908) 231-7155 or use the web form at http://www.co.somerset.nj.us/covidQs.

The CDC recommends the following for people who may have an adverse reaction to the J&J one-dose COVID-19 vaccine:

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. Health care providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System at https://vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html.

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