UVA doctor weighs in on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine no longer being available in U.S.

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - According to the CDC, the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is no longer available in the United States.

The CDC said stock of the vaccine expired on May 7.

Experts believe this is due to the federal emergency ending and the already low number of people who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

”The J&J vaccine was the least effective of the four available COVID vaccines and it caused a rare side effect of causing blood clots,” Dr. William Petri, UVA infectious disease doctor said.

Dr. Petri said the demand for Johnson and Johnson was already low before the federal COVID emergency ended.

“The only nine people ever to die from getting COVID vaccinations in the U.S. got the J&J vaccine and had blood clots,” Dr. Petri said.

Dr. Petri said it was four cases per million doses of the vaccine that created the blood clotting issue, but even with those small numbers, Dr. Petri said people put their trust in the other options.

He said although the COVID federal emergency has ended that citizens can rest assured that Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will be available for the foreseeable future.

“The vaccine campaign has had like the most stringent safety criteria in modern medicine of any vaccination in the world,” Dr. Petri said.