This week, Detroit rejected 6,200 doses of the recently authorized Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine
LANSING, Michigan. – Detroit this week rejected 6,200 doses of the recently authorized Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, favoring the Pfizer and Moderna shots, but said Friday it will accept J&J doses in the state’s next assignment.
Mayor Mike Duggan had said Thursday that residents should receive the “best” vaccines – from Moderna and Pfizer – in conflict with the guidelines of top state and federal health officials who warn to compare the three vaccines and point out that they all provide a strong protection against the worst results.
Duggan also said the 29,000-dose allocation of Pfizer and Modern “covered everyone who wanted to be vaccinated this week.” On Friday he described J&J vaccines as “a key part of our expansion of vaccine centers.”
No other local health department rejected any of the 82,700 J&J shots sent to Michigan this week, the state health department said.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical officer of Michigan, said earlier in the week that people who are offered the J&J vaccine should “take it because it decreases … it could be the difference between life and death “In a statement Friday, he cited differences in when and where each company conducted its studies, with Modern and Pfizer ‘s research completed before it began to spread about variants.
In the U.S., two-dose shots from Pfizer and Moderna protected 95% against symptomatic COVID-19. The effectiveness of an 85% dose of J&J against severe COVID-19 dropped to 66% when moderate cases were introduced. The Food and Drug Administration has reported that, like its predecessors, the J&J firmly protected against serious illness, hospitalization and death. .
“All vaccines are safe and effective and I recommend that all vaccines be offered to all communities,” Khaldun said.
Andy Slavitt, White House coronavirus special adviser, said Friday that the White House spoke with the Detroit mayor, who called the situation a “misunderstanding.”
“In fact, he’s really looking forward to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” Slavitt said of Duggan.
As of Wednesday, 11% of Detroit residents 16 years of age or older had received at least one dose. The statewide rate was 19%.
This week, Detroit extended the vaccines to any resident who worked in the factory, regardless of their age or where they work. Non-residents can also get a chance if they work in manufacturing in the city.
Detroit’s 6,200 doses of J&J went to county health departments with the lowest vaccination rates in people 65 and older, state spokesman Bob Wheaton said.
The J&J vaccine is produced through a cell line derived from an aborted fetus, which has provoked moral concerns from Catholic leaders. Chairs of the committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on issues of doctrine and abortion said Pfizer or Moderna vaccines are preferable “if a vaccine can be chosen.”
A $ 4.2 billion COVID-19 relief plan approved this week by the Michigan Republican legislature includes a provision that would require vaccine recipients to be informed if and how their vaccine with aborted fetal tissue was developed or human embryonic stem cells. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could declare the article not applicable.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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