Vaccination clinics using the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID-19 shot resumed Wednesday in Durango with a crew assigned by the state offering a mobile clinic at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
Greg Mauger, 32, of Durango said he switched his reservation from a Tuesday clinic offering the Pfizer two-dose vaccine to Wednesday’s J&J clinic.
“I like the convenience. When I saw I could be one and done, I changed my appointment,” he said.
The 10-day nationwide pause on the J&J vaccine issued from April 13 to April 23 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate rare blood clotting mostly in women after receiving the J&J vaccine didn’t concern Mauger.
“When you look at the numbers, it was a drop in the bucket. I think you can expect some issues with anything like this,” he said. ”You’re talking about a dozen or so cases among millions of people who received the vaccines.”
Liane Jollon, executive director of San Juan Basin Public Health, said the pause to study what was happening with the J&J vaccine showed a well-designed safety system is in place to monitor unintended effects whenever a new inoculation gets started.
“I don’t think a lot of people know that whenever something like this gets underway there is a lot of surveillance going on,” she said. “The pause demonstrated there is a robust system in place that pays attention to vaccine safety.”
The FDA and the CDC recommended a resumption of the J&J vaccine, saying a review of data showed the J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine’s known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks.
The agencies also said women younger than 50 should be aware of the rare but increased risk of the blood clotting issue, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome or TTS, and women should be aware that other vaccine options, the Pfizer and Moderna two-dose vaccines, are available.
The blood clotting risk has not been observed with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
The CDC and the FDA are continuing to monitor the safety of all COVID-19 vaccines.
Jollon said surveillance of effects from vaccines include examination of emergency room and urgent care visits as well as data analysis looking for any patterns and reactions that should be studied.
“There are multiple levels of safety working in the background with something like this, and I think the pause highlighted that the safety procedures worked,” she said.
Steve Kotlarz, 38, of Durango, the owner of Econo Lodge, said he was urged to by his mother, a nurse, to get the vaccine, and his wife, Leanne, also received the J&J vaccine about 45 minutes before he did.
“It really didn’t concern her either,” he said. “My mom’s a nurse and she really encouraged us to get vaccinated, and I ran a hospice for 11 years in Chicago, so I’m familiar with public health.”
Mauger said he could have gotten the vaccine a few weeks earlier, but he already had a bout with the novel coronavirus. He was diagnosed on Christmas Eve, and he felt he already had some protection against the novel coronavirus.
“I wanted to make sure everyone who hadn’t been exposed had a chance to be vaccinated,” he said.
As for encounter with the pathogen, Mauger said he was tired and lost his sense of taste and smell for three days, and that was followed with sensing phantom smells for a few days.
“I was asking everyone to check the propane and to look for burning wires for a few days,” he said.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
