Eastern Michigan University is to postpone providing students and faculty with the one dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to recent concerns over vaccine side effects, as of April 13.
EMU, in partnership with the Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD), was to launch a four-day pop-up clinic. Students and faculty would then have been able to receive the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at either the Convocation Center on Tuesday, April 13, or at the McKenny Ballroom on April 14 through April 16.
However, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration released a joint statement, on April 12, recommending that the United States pause in providing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to 6 cases where women developed blood clots after receiving the vaccine, EMU postponed the vaccine distribution. As of April 13, EMU in partnership with the WCHD is still able to provide vaccines at the Convocation Center pop-up clinic on Wednesday, April 14 but it will be the two-dose Pfizer vaccine.
Susan Ringler-Cerniglia, a Public Information Officer at the WCHD, said that vaccine distribution up to the recent postponement of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been difficult because of the high demand but short supply. Despite this, Cerniglia stresses that considering the pace at which safe vaccines were made available, Washtenaw County is doing well in providing vaccines to citizens.
Cerniglia says that the decision to postpone the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is being made so that there can be a better understanding of the situation because there is still much unknown.
“I think the most important thing right now is what we're talking about in terms of understanding that vaccines are an effective intervention. And that this is really a very temporary and precautionary pause to look at a situation that might be concerning but we just really don’t know that now. And in terms of risk, it’s very, very small. So make sure that we’re keeping that in perspective...and looking to reliable sources for information,” Cerniglia said.
In response to the EMU's priority right now and in light of the situation, Geoffrey Larcom, Executive Director of Media Relations at EMU, says the most important priority is to follow the direction of the WCHD and what has been dictated by the Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration.
“The University is going to follow the directives of the national authorities of course and the Washtenaw Health Department which is administering the vaccine. [With] that said, the University is interested of course in distributing as many vaccines as quickly as possible as it is able to obtain and indeed as the procedure allows,” Larcom said.
Larcom expressed that the University wishes to ensure the welfare of students and staff and is gratified in being able to offer facilities to lead to more vaccinations. He hopes that the EMU will be able to do so in whatever capacity possible.
For Ryan Denniston, a sophomore student, the recent postponement of receiving the vaccine was very sudden as he had planned to receive the vaccine on April 13.
“I was kind of sad because I was looking forward to it because I don’t want to get COVID, but I understand and I appreciate that they’re taking these student’s safety into account,” Denniston said.
In concerns of getting precise and dictated updates about vaccinations on campus, Larcom says it is extremely important for students and faculty to check their emails. For further details about the postponement of Johnson & Johnson vaccines in Washtenaw County, you can read the WCHD announcement, here.
