PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Islanders can resume getting Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccinations this week following a pause in their use over concerns about rare blood clots in a small number of people who received the shot, state health officials said.
“This pause in the administration of Johnson & Johnson vaccine demonstrates that we have rigorous safety systems in place, and those systems work,” Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the state Department of Health, said in a statement Monday. “We will continue to monitor both the safety and the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine. We continue to see that COVID-19 vaccine is preventing cases, hospitalizations, and fatalities in Rhode Island.”
Neighboring states Connecticut and Massachusetts have already started allowing use of the single-dose J&J vaccine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the pause on April 13, but lifted it Friday.
Nearly 362,000 people in Rhode Island have now been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, according to the department, but only 31,000 people have received a J&J shot. There have been no reported cases of the rare blood clots among people vaccinated with the J&J vaccine in Rhode Island, the department said.
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HEALTH DEPARTMENT DATA
Three key metrics used by the Rhode Island Department of Health to track the prevalence of the coronavirus in the state are moving in the right direction, according to department data released Tuesday.
The state’s positivity rate has fallen to 1.9%, down from 2.3% the previous week.
The number of new hospital admissions fell to 130 in the week ending Saturday, down from 163 the prior week.
Also, the number of new cases per 100,000 population has plunged week to week, from 257 to 190.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Rhode Island has surpassed 147,000, the department said.
On Tuesday, the agency reported more than 250 new cases - 224 in people who tested positive for the first time on Monday and the rest in people who tested positive for the first time on previous days.
The state also reported one more virus-related death, for a total of 2,664 fatalities.
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