DHHS: pause now lifted for Johnson & Johnson vaccine

News releases from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) have announced the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is now back in use.
With that news, distribution of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine has been resumed at Adams Drug in Imperial.
In addition, Adams Drug just received confirmation this week that they will also receive the Moderna COVID vaccine, which is now being offered at the drugstore.
Paperwork to receive both vaccines locally can be filled out online with access at healthmart covidvaccine.com.It can also be done in person at Adams Drug.
As a state, Nebraska is following Friday’s recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in lifting the pause.
The two agencies had earlier in the month recommended a pause in using Johnson & Johnson doses out of an abundance of caution after reports of a rare type of blood clot arose in some people who had received that vaccine, DHHS reported.
Called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), it is seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia), according to the DHHS.
Early this week, 17 reports of blood clots had been recorded, according to the CDC, in the more than 8 million doses administered in the U.S.
The safety and effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have now been confirmed by the CDC and the FDA.
    Nebraska providers who have a current supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should resume using those doses, according to state officials.
Chase County Community Hospital (CCCH) is still administering the Moderna COVID-19 two-dose vaccine.
SWNPHD is working with local partners and schools to also bring the Pfizer vaccine to youths in southwest Nebraska.
Pfizer is the only vaccine available at this time for persons ages 16 and 17 years old.
Nebraska residents can register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at vaccinate.ne.gov, the official waiting list for the nine-county health district. Currently, persons are being vaccinated in one week or less. If you do not have computer access, please call 308-345-4223 to register.
SWNPHD numbers
The SWNPHD, which includes Chase County, continues to track COVID cases in its nine-county region.
SWNPHD had 15 new cases of COVID-19 reported between April 13-24.
Broken down by county new cases show: Chase-1, Dundy-2, Furnas-2, Frontier-0, Hayes-1, Hitchcock-0, Keith-1, Perkins-5 and Red Willow-3, bringing the total number of cases to 3,806 since records started.
DHHS has identified around 420 cases of variant strains of COVID-19 in the state, but none so far were in southwest Nebraska, said health director Myra Stoney.
The statewide COVID-19 Risk Dial remains at green, based on the amount of hospital capacity used for COVID patients.
Stoney said SWNPHD continues to recommend wearing a mask in public, washing hands and avoiding the 3 C’s: crowded spaces, close contact and confined spaces.
Per CDC guidelines, those who have been vaccinated do not need to mask when around others who have been vaccinated for COVID-19, she said.