COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio is one of the top states to receive doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, which federal health agencies pulled from use on Tuesday, and the vaccine represents nearly 1 in 10 shots distributed to the state.
Ohio has received 382,100 doses of the J&J vaccine, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is 9% of the more than 4.1 million total doses shipped to the state.
That percentage, however, reflects the share of doses shipped to Ohio, and the CDC’s numbers are about a week behind. An inquiry to a state health department spokesperson on Tuesday as to J&J’s share of doses administered to Ohio patients went unreturned.
White House coronavirus coordinator Jeffrey Zients said Tuesday that the J&J vaccine represents just 5% of shots given in the U.S.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine has only been in use in Ohio since the beginning of March, representing about six weeks of the 18 weeks of vaccine shipments to the state since its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine in mid-December.
Ohio’s allotment of 171,900 J&J doses for the week of March 29 was the state’s third highest COVID-19 vaccine shipment yet.
Ohio ranks fifth in the U.S. in shipments of each coronavirus vaccine, behind California, Texas, Florida and the federal government. As for J&J shipments, Ohio is ahead of more populous states Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois by as many as 50,000 doses.
| Rank | State | J&J doses distributed |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | California | 1,273,000 |
| 2. | Texas | 871,900 |
| 3. | Florida | 696,400 |
| 4. | Federal Entities | 507,300 |
| 5. | Ohio | 382,100 |
| 6. | Pennsylvania | 376,200 |
| 7. | New York | 372,700 |
| 8. | North Carolina | 333,000 |
| 9. | Illinois | 330,700 |
| 10. | Georgia | 330,500 |
J&J’s one-shot vaccine has been important to Ohio’s coronavirus response, including being used on college students because the academic year would likely end before schools could administer a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna.
More than 4.1 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Ohio, according to state data as of Tuesday, which is more than 35% of the population. 2.7 million people (23%) are fully vaccinated.
The CDC and Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday paused use of the J&J vaccine because of rare blood clotting found in six women between ages 18 and 48 who had recently been vaccinated. The reports are similar to rare clotting linked to Europe’s AstraZeneca vaccine, which is manufactured with the same technology but has not been approved for use in the United States.
More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., according to the Associated Press, and the vast majority of patients have had no or mild side effects.
