Washington to pause use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine immediately after reports of rare blood clots

Washington will pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine immediately, health officials announced Tuesday.

The pause comes after reports of six people who received the vaccine developing "cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot," the CDC and FDA said. All six people were women between the ages of 16 and 48, who experienced the symptom between six and 13 days after receiving the vaccine. More than 6.8 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses have been given so far in the U.S, making the occurrence of the side effect very rare.

"This action is being taken out of extreme caution and based on the appearance of a rare, very rare ... but a serious side effect, which includes blood clots which can be in different parts of the body including the brain," Secretary of Health Umair Shah said during a media availability Tuesday.

None of the six patients were in Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee tweeted.

The CDC and FDA on Tuesday recommended a pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine across the country. The agencies said the recommendation was in part to "ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan for proper recognition and management due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot."

"Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare. COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination very seriously," the agencies said in a joint statement.

In Washington, about 150,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been distributed and there have been no reported cases of the blood clots in people across the state.

"For those who got the vaccine more than a month ago, the risk of this complication is very low at this time," the Washington Department of Health said in a statement. "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. It also demonstrates how well the robust vaccine safety monitoring systems work, since this potential safety concern was identified quickly and vaccines were paused to allow for further investigation."

Health officials Tuesday emphasized how rare the blood clots were after people recieved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine: less than one in a million, so far.

Mayor Jenny Durkan said people who were scheduled to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at one of the city's sites will still keep their vaccine appointment, but will receive another vaccine.

"If you had an appointment with the @CityofSeattle for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, your appointment remains and you will receive the Pfizer vaccine," Durkan tweeted. "Nationwide, nearly 200 million Pfizer and Moderna shots have occurred – let’s keep it up!"

However, some appointments have already been canceled at other sites. The Snohomish Health District said it was canceling  appointments at the Angel of Winds Arena due to the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The state expects the pause to only be temporary, Shah said.

"These obviously are adverse events that are very rare. They're unfortunate, but it should not take away from the fact that these three vaccines that we have are safe and effective," Shah said. "We want to make sure that people continue to have confidence in vaccines and they recognize the importance of those vaccines."

Health officials in recent weeks have been encouraging everyone to get the vaccine as soon as they are eligible. Vaccines are one of the key tools to slow the spread of the virus and allow people to resume more normal activities.

Prior to the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the state had already been struggling with limited vaccine supply and high demand. The pause also comes just days before the state is opening up eligibility to everyone over the age of 16. Still, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been only a small amount of the total doses the state has given. Over the next few weeks, the state was only expecting to receive between 4,000 and 13,000 total doses of the vaccine, so it likely won't significantly impact the state's supply.

According to the most recent data, Washington has given a total of more than 4.1 million doses, including first and second doses. About 34% of people have received at least one dose of the vaccine and about 22% of people have been fully vaccinated.