Triangle pharmacists feel confident about future of J&J vaccine after pause ends

There are about 132,000 doses available in the state. Many were ready to be administered when the shot was paused over safety concerns. Now that the pause has been lifted, the doses are available again.

During the pause, scientific advisers decided the vaccine’s benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clot. All in all, the federal government uncovered 15 vaccine recipients who developed a highly unusual kind of blood clot out of nearly 8 million people given the J&J shot.

Jin Lee with DJ's Pharmacy in Cary is now offering the J&J vaccine again.

"I think it is a very safe vaccine," said Lee. "There is still going to be some safety concerns. There are going to be a lot of questions that we need to answer."

Anna Baird with Realo Drugs in Fuquay-Varina said they will soon start offering the J&J shot as well.

"We are prepared to just counsel our patients on what to monitor for in way of side effects such as shortness of breath, chest pain, persistent abdominal pain, severe headache or blurred vision,” Baird said.

The shot is still popular for being a single-dose vaccine.

"It allows us to do this for more patients," Baird said. "We definitely trust the decisions made by the CDC and the FDA."

Health officials say they will continue to investigate the blood clot risk.

States scramble to halt Johnson & Johnson vaccinations after CDC and FDA recommend pause

State leaders expect to order more Johnson and Johnson doses soon.