It may be tougher to find Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine in Florida.
On Monday, Orange County officials announced that one of its largest coronavirus vaccination sites will no longer provide the shots due to the inability to resupply.
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When asked why, Dr. Raul Pino with Orange County Florida Department of Health said it’s because the state won’t supply more doses.
“At this point, we have no ability to order Johnson & Johnson,” he said during the county’s coronavirus briefing, adding the state is taking a “we have what we have” approach.
“That will change, I believe,” Pino said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke at Camping World Stadium later on Monday afternoon and addressed the lack of the vaccine.
“No sites are getting them now because we have not gotten a shipment from the federal government since May 2,” he said. “So they’ve been farmed out as needed, but we’re now at the point where the stockpile is depleted.”
The governor, who has been a public supporter of Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine and said he received the shot himself, said if supply becomes available Florida will try to snag some of it.
“I personally, for these types of sites you know, I like J&J (because) you just go through once. That’s what I got many months ago and I think that’s a good option,” he said. “We obviously want to provide it for all these different sites.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps track of COVID-19 vaccine allocations by state. According to its data on Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine distribution, Florida last received 37,000 doses on May 10.
In late April, after an 11-day pause, a U.S. health panel said it’s time to resume the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine despite a very rare risk of blood clots.
The vaccine has been on a pause since April 12 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced in a joint statement, “they were reviewing data involving six reported U.S cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in people who received Johnson and Johnson.”
Out of more than 7 million people who received the vaccine health officials uncovered 15 cases of blood clots, as of Friday. Three of them were fatal. All were women, most younger than 50.