Want the J&J vaccine? In Wake County, you'll need to choose the right location

If you want to be vaccinated against coronavirus with a single shot, you'll need to be very careful in selecting your vaccine destination, as Wake County officials have adjusted their vaccination strategy following a string of adverse reactions to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week.

Posted 8:53 a.m. Apr 12, 2021 — Updated 10:24 p.m. Apr 12, 2021

Keely Arthur

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — If you want to be vaccinated against coronavirus with a single shot, you'll need to be very careful in selecting your vaccine destination, as Wake County officials have adjusted their vaccination strategy following a string of adverse reactions to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week.

Wake County health officials stress that the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe, but to increase confidence, they're using it only in smaller outlets.

At the drive-thru mass vaccination clinics held outside the PNC Arena in Raleigh, only the Pfizer vaccine will be administered this week.

The PNC clinic was paused last Thursday when some recipients experienced minor reactions after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Wake County spokeswoman Stacy Beard said 18 people – less than 1 percent of the more than 2,300 doses administered that day – had an adverse reaction to the vaccine, such as nausea, dizziness, fainting and one allergic reaction.

After similar episodes were reported in Colorado and Georgia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vaccine is safe. Local vaccine distributors, including Wake County and UNC Health, reiterated their confidence in the vaccine, which will still be used at smaller clinics and pharmacies this week.

"We spent all weekend trying to make sure we felt safe and confident about the vaccine. Now, we are trying to figure out how do we get the vaccine out there," said Ryan Jury, who oversees Wake County's vaccination efforts.

Shaw University was giving shots of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to students, faculty and staff on Monday.

"If this vaccine works out, then things will go back to normal, and we won’t have to be wearing these masks all the time," Shaw junior Devitt Best said.

Best said he was a bit apprehensive about getting the shot, given what happened last week.

"I was a little bit nervous, I’m not going to lie," he said. "I mean, I heard about what happened in Wake County."

By limiting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to smaller clinics, Jury said, the staff at those venues can more closely monitor newly vaccinated people for any possible reactions.

"There’s no silver bullet to vaccinations. You have people who pass out or faint, and there is no way to predict it," Jury said. "Part of our process is, when there is something happening that we don’t expect, that we pause and take a time out until we figure out what’s going on."

Officials still haven't determined the cause for the adverse reactions last week. Heat is one possible factor – all of the clinics that experienced problems across the country last week were outside.

Jury said officials are using the experience as a teachable moment and will now have more emergency responders on hand at mass clinics in case something similar ever happens.

UNC Health also attested to the shot's safety and effectiveness, and officials said they will continue giving Johnson & Johnson vaccines at their clinics.

Locations, phone numbers to get your COVID shot in central NC

Halting the PNC Arena clinic clast week left Wake County with 7,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for this week, along with its weekly allocations of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

"It will be a busy week for us," Jury said, predicting that all of the doses will be administered by the end of the week.

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