DeKalb County Health Department cancels Johnson & Johnson vaccine appointments ‘out of abundance of caution’

DeKALB - If you were scheduled to receive a Johnson & Johnson vaccine appointment this week, you’ll have to reschedule for a Moderna or Pfizer dose at a different time, said DeKalb County health officials Tuesday morning.

The DeKalb County Health Department, which oversees the vaccination clinic at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center, has been administering mostly Moderna vaccine, with some Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson appointments available as supply steadily increases.

The Johnson & Johnson appointments, including the two mass vaccination clinics scheduled for NIU students only this weekend, have subsequently been canceled, local health officials announced.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are cancelling all scheduled Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine clinics,” the health department announcement reads. “If you had an appointment for Johnson & Johnson, it has been cancelled. Please do not call our office to reschedule at this time.”

The update comes Tuesday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration issued a joint statement asking all states to pause administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as the agencies investigate blood clots in six women that occurred within six to 16 days after vaccination. The clots were observed along with reduced platelet counts — making the usual treatment for blood clots, the blood thinner heparin, potentially “dangerous.”

More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., the vast majority with no or mild side effects.

Lisa Gonzalez, public health administrator for the county health department, said the department had been allocated 5,300 doses of vaccine this week, with 3,500 of those doses planned initially for the NIU student clinics.

NIU Chief of Staff Matt Streb said the student clinic cancelation was “unfortunate.” He said there are currently no plans to reschedule the student clinic with a different vaccine provider.

“This is certainly disappointing,” Streb said. “Unfortunately, given the timing of the end of the semester, we won’t be able to do a Moderna or Pfizer clinic at this time.” 

Gonzalez said the current doses of Johnson & Johnson in the health department’s care will remain viable for a number of months if unused.

“The vaccine can be stored in regular refrigerator temperature until expiration date on the vial,” Gonzalez said. “For our current supply, it would be good through June 2021.”

How to reschedule

For those who had a Johnson & Johnson appointment already set up this week, you will need to monitor the health department’s online self-scheduler to book yourself a different appointment with either Moderna or Pfizer for a first dose, health officials said.

The Johnson & Johnson announcement does not affect Pfizer or Moderna rollout in any way, said Melissa Edwards, spokesperson for the DeKalb County Health Department.

“Vaccination remains critical to protect from COVID-19,” Edwards said. “We encourage all those who had a Johnson & Johnson appointment to monitor the registration link for available 1st dose appointments for a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.”

You can view the online scheduler here: https://events.juvare.com/IL-IDPH/0fd3d046-fd58-495f-bf18-b5b6fd68c4a6/?fbclid=IwAR1j1gBtLtQqOp999rGXc6ATD4Hg2KxOXHk0A_GtW1XO8ecKG_Vh6ab-EE8