By Gabriella Borter and Catherine Koppel
WASHINGTON / NEW ORLEANS, April 13 (Reuters) – Henna Ramchandani walked out of her vaccination appointment at a conference center in Washington DC on Tuesday morning, excited that she had decided just one day earlier to get the Pfizer Inc COVID-19 vaccine in instead of the Johnson & Johnson shot, initially her first choice.
Hours earlier, U.S. federal health agencies recommended suspending the use of Johnson & Johnson’s single dose of COVID-19 vaccine for several days after six women under the age of 50 developed rare blood clots after receiving the shot.
“I wanted the one originally because it was one and done, and I’m very scared of shots,” the 26-year-old Ramchandani said. “But I could not imagine that I would have it now.”
Kenneth Robinson, a 69-year-old employee in transportation services, was a block away and led people to their appointments at the conference center. He received the J&J shot last month and shrugged his shoulders when he heard that its safety had stopped the use. He felt good and was grateful for the immunity.
“It’s too late now!” he says cheerfully.
After the sudden action by health officials, which forced some U.S. vaccine sites to cancel appointments or to cancel the administration of alternative COVID-19 vaccines, Americans’ reactions of frustration over the loss of access to the one-shot option vary for fear that they may get the rare blood clots.
“Honestly, I would still have taken it today,” said Cole Parsons, a 40-year-old hotel manager who was to be vaccinated with the J&J shot in New Orleans on Tuesday, before the site suddenly had to switch to Moderna. and Pfizer vaccines.
Only 6 people out of about 7 million Americans who received the J&J shot experienced the rare brain blood clots.
“The chances are greater [I get] attacked by a crocodile in the swamp or, you know, struck by lightning when I to have a reaction to it, ‘he said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the chance of being struck by lightning in a given year is about 1 in 500,000.
Vaccination experts say that even if the blood clotting cases are linked to the J&J shot, the risk is very small against the protection against COVID-19. According to the FDA, the agency will give time to inform doctors on how to identify and treat the clotting system.
Taka Katakayama, a 39-year-old production coordinator, was to get the J&J on Tuesday at the Javits Center in New York City, but eventually got Pfizer.
Katakayama wanted the J&J vaccine rather than a two-dose shot because “I just wanted to do it,” he said. Instead, he worried about his wife getting the J&J shot a few days earlier.
“I just hope nothing bad happens to her,” he said.
The CDC said the decision to suspend the roll-out of J&J vaccine was taken out of an abundance of caution.
Lindsey Weller, a 34-year-old freelance actor and model, said she danced in a row while waiting for a J&J shot in Hagerstown, Maryland last week, much to the amusement of the workers of the yard. Tuesday’s news did not diminish the excitement.
“I actually feel good about it,” she said. “I hope it will not be a setback for people who are vaccinated.” (Reporting by Gabriella Borter, Catherine Koppel, Dan Fastenberg and Carl O’Donnell; Edited by Peter Henderson and Bill Berkrot)