Beginning Wednesday, May 5, UNC Health will resume offering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after a three-week pause.

According to a release from the healthcare system, “Our experts have reviewed the data and CDC recommendations to resume Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, and continue to strongly recommend patients receive any one of the COVID-19 vaccines.”

Johnson & Johnson appointments are now available starting Wednesday at the Friday Center vaccination clinic in Chapel Hill and other UNC Health clinics across the state.

UNC Health and the UNC vaccination clinic on campus both paused their use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on April 13 amid guidance from the federal and state governments.

Both the statewide health care system and the Chapel Hill university issued statements citing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration to pause administration of the one-shot vaccine. Initial reports from the federal departments said they are investigating unusual clots in six women that occurred around one week after vaccination with the Johnson & Johnson dose.

On April 25, the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that providers resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine after a “thorough safety review” into the rare blood clot cases.

During the pause, the agencies confirmed that a total of 15 clot cases have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), including the original six reported cases. All of these cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 59. Reports indicated symptom onset between 6 and 15 days after vaccination.

Patients can visit YourShot.org to find the latest information from UNC Health experts on COVID-19 vaccines and visit https://unchealthcare.org/schedule to make a vaccine appointment. When scheduling, patients can select from either a one-shot vaccine (J&J) or a two-shot vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna).

As of Monday, UNC Health has administered more than 375,000 doses of the three vaccines.

Lead photo via Johnson & Johnson/AP.

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