PORTLAND, Ore. — The governors of Oregon and Washington state reauthorized the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday.
Their announcements came the day after federal health officials on Friday lifted the nationwide pause on the J&J vaccine after investigating 15 cases of blood clots out of 8 million people who received the J&J shot.
"After thorough review by leading doctors, scientists, and health experts, Oregonians can be confident that the J&J vaccine is safe, effective, and that the benefits of vaccination against COVID-19 far outweigh any exceedingly rare risks," Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said in a statement.
"This is a safe medicine that has been reviewed by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's statement said. "We need every weapon to fight this pandemic."
The Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup reviewed the federal process for lifting the pause before recommending the J&J vaccine. The group of scientists reviews federal approvals of COVID-19 treatments for the states of Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada.
U.S. health officials paused usage of the J&J vaccine on April 13 due to a rare type of blood clot found in 15 women, most under age 50. Three of those women died.
After 11 days, the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided that J&J's single-dose vaccine is critical to fight the pandemic. The federal agencies determined the small clot risk could be handled with warnings to help younger women decide if they should use that shot or an alternative.
“Above all else, health and safety are at the forefront of our decisions,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “Our vaccine safety systems are working. We identified exceptionally rare events – out of millions of doses" of the J&J shot and will continue to monitor them."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
