Beshear pauses use of J&J vaccine in Kentucky, says health officials believe it will be deemed safe

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - Gov. Andy Beshear has announced a pause in the use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Kentucky.

This comes after reports of potentially dangerous blood clots with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

In a joint statement Tuesday, the CDC and the FDA said they were investigating unusual clots in six women that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination.

[MORE: US recommends ‘pause’ for J&J vaccine over clot reports]

The federal government is recommending a “pause” in the administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to investigate the reports of blood clots.

CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet Wednesday to discuss the cases and the FDA has also launched an investigation into the cause of the clots and low platelet counts.

Gov. Beshear says the pause is for two reasons: to see how many of these cases are truly out there and to study how to best treat the clots when they are reported.

The governor says, to his knowledge, there have been no reports of clotting side effects in Kentucky.

Beshear says health officials say you have less than a one in one million chance of experiencing the clotting side effect. He adds there is a one in 558 chance of dying from COVID-19.

Beshear says the pause of the J&J vaccine will only be days, or, at most, a week. He says health officials believe the vaccine will be deemed safe to administer.

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