New York, NY (77WABC)-NYC Mayor De Blasio, NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, and Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma said during the Mayor’s Tuesday briefing, that NYC is rescheduling vaccinations for people who have appointments for the Johnson and Johnson Covid 19 vaccine. The move follows an announcement this morning by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control that the federal agencies have paused the administration of the Janssen Covid 19 (J & J) vaccine as they investigate rare cases of blood clots in six women ages 18 to 48. One woman died.
More than 6.8 million J & J Covid 19 vaccines had been administered nationwide, prior to Tuesday’s announcement by the CDC and the FDA.
NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio said during his morning briefing “our vaccine command center is now co-ordinating new appointments for everyone scheduled for today and the coming days for Johnson and Johnson.”
The Mayor said NYC has to date administered 234,00 doses of J & J vaccines and “thank God no reports at all to date of any blood clots, but we take this very seriously.” He added the federal government has called for a cautious approach here and “we are acting on that immediately.”
Referring to the pause, Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma said the message I hope people receive is “that this is a sign that our system is working.”
NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said continuing covid 19 vaccination efforts remain “an urgent priority for us to protect New Yorkers and that’s why we are proceeding with administering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to beat back the pandemic.” as the J & J vaccine situation is assessed.
NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi during Mayor DeBlasio’s briefing morning:
Dr. Chokshi noted NYC is proceeding in an “abundance of caution” to pause the J & J vaccine. He said the pause gives federal partners, the CDC, and the FDA. a chance to have an opportunity to access the J & J vaccine and whether or not the relationship exists between the reported cases of blood clots and the vaccine itself.
The CDC will convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Wednesday to further review these cases and assess their potential significance.
J & J issued a statement saying safety is a top priority.
