Nevada to resume use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Nevada officials announced Friday night that the state will begin redistributing the one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Nevada Health Response’s statement came after the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration announced earlier Friday that states could begin using the vaccine again, following an 11-day pause, despite some rare cases of severe reactions.

Here's an update on Nevada's response to today's Janssen #COVID19vaccine announcement. pic.twitter.com/rWcx6p5vXt

— @NVHealthResponse (@NVHealthRespon1) April 24, 2021

“The FDA has determined that the available data show that the vaccine’s known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older,” the FDA said in a statement Friday.

An 18-year-old in Clark County was one of six people who were under investigation across the country after developing cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, where clots occur in veins that drain blood from the brain, following the vaccine.

“Above all else, health and safety are at the forefront of our decisions,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in the FDA’s statement. “Our vaccine safety systems are working. We identified exceptionally rare events – out of millions of doses of the Janssen COVID-19 administered – and we paused to examine them more carefully.”

Anyone who experiences a negative reaction should contact their provider, who is required to report the reaction on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.