Southern NJ counties regroup on COVID-19 vaccine distribution amid Johnson & Johnson pause

Counties in southern New Jersey have stopped administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

News 12 Staff

Apr 14, 2021, 12:15 AM

Updated 1,341 days ago

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Camden County typically offers the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the Blackwood site on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
But the county has had to stop this practice for the moment now that the federal officials recommended pausing because several women who took the vaccine developed blood clots.
Camden County health officials say that despite the setback, those who have appointments should not cancel because there are still other vaccine doses available.
"Between Wednesday and Saturday, we had about 1,600 J&J doses that were going to be given at that point. We were lucky enough to have a small inventory of Moderna and we're going to be using up that inventory to ensure that people can keep their appointments,” says Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen.
Burlington County officials say that they have administered 1,000 doses of the J&J vaccine to homebound residents and other members of vulnerable populations.
Atlantic County is switching its homebound vaccination program to the Moderna vaccine.
Cape May County has administered nearly 260 doses of the J&J vaccine, with 700 more doses now paused.
Gloucester County, which helps to run the megasite at Rowan College of South Jersey, will be switching to Pfizer.
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Health officials across the state say that they hope that the pause won’t slow down the vaccination momentum.
“Because we’ve experienced so much misinformation about the virus to being with – and the vaccines – I hope that this doesn’t undermine that in any way shape or form,” says Keashen. “We want to underscore the fact that regardless of what happens with J&J, it’s still vitally important to get vaccinated.”
Gov. Phil Murphy says that New Jersey is still on track to vaccinate 4.7 million New Jersey residents by the end of June.