After 11-day pause, doctors encourage skeptical Americans to receive J&J vaccine
MIAMI (NewsNation Now) — After an 11-day pause, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is once again available, but at vaccine sites across the country — demand for the single-dose shot is low.
At one mass vaccination site in Miami, there were 2,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses available Monday. But only about 300 people received the shot, according to Florida’s Department of Emergency Management.
Adrian Feliz, one of those present at the site, opted for the two-dose Pfizer vaccine.
“I don’t trust it,” said Feliz. “There have been problems with it.”
He wasn’t the only one feeling that way.
“I went against [the Johnson & Johnson vaccine] because of the blood clots,” said Hailey Barber.
However, Dr. Preeti Malani of the University of Michigan believes there’s little reason to be nervous about receiving the single-dose injection.
“Overall, people should feel confident in getting the J&J vaccine,” he said. “The adverse events are very serious, but they are also very rare. So far, we know there have been 15 cases in about 8 million shots. One thing to keep in mind is the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk of infection.”
Approximately 141 million, or about 43% of Americans, have received at least one dose of the vaccine so far and 29% of Americans have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.