Demand high for Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Lorain County

Lorain County Public Health's first COVID-19 vaccination clinic with the Johnson & Johnson shot sold out "like a rock concert" within a half-hour of appointments being made available, Health Commissioner David Covell told members of the county Community Protection Team on Tuesday. The clinic, held at Christ Church in Columbia Township, was the first of what is anticipated to be multiple Lorain County Public Health clinics offering the Johnson & Johnson shot, Covell said. Clinic sizes are expected to increase in the future. Some residents may prefer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because it requires just one dose, while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are recommended for two doses. But both Covell and local hospital leaders continue to urge residents to accept whatever type of vaccine is available rather than waiting for a preferred brand. "I know there is a lot of demand for Johnson & Johnson, but unfortunately we just don't have that much right now," Covell said. "… Vaccines are going to become more and more available, so hopefully within the next month, everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get it relatively quickly." Dr. Rebecca Starck, president of the Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital, said the primary goal of vaccination is to eliminate death, severe illness and intensive care unit admissions related to COVID-19. Although early data has suggested the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has less overall efficacy compared with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Starck said patients should not refuse the Johnson & Johnson shot if it is available. "When it comes to severity of illness, I would say that absolutely you can feel very confident getting the J&J. Risk of death, risk of intubation, risk of ICU stay is lower," she said. Lorain County Public Health received a delivery with 400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week and expects another shipment next week. Covell expects the shipments to continually increase in size. Some of those doses will be administered to homebound and homeless Lorain County residents, due to the convenience of only having to administer one dose. "The reason that group really needs that Johnson & Johnson is because of the difficulty of having them come back," Covell said. Between all available varieties of vaccines, Covell said Lorain County Public Health is close to surpassing 50,000 people vaccinated, in addition to the shots administered by other community partners. "It's getting clearer and clearer to my staff at least, when they are out there at these 1,000 (and) 2,000-people vaccination sites, that people are extremely happy to get vaccinated and get back to normal," Covell said. "That's the future and I'm excited for the future." Regarding concerns for a new wave of increased COVID-19 cases projected to possibly begin in late March or early April, Covell said that projection could explain why case counts have not continued to decline. However, he said hospitalization and death rates do not appear to be increasing overall at the moment. Getting as many high-risk people vaccinated now is important, he said, because that could limit the impact of a new wave of cases. In Lorain County specifically, there were 28 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 39 new probable cases reported between Monday and Tuesday, according to Lorain County Public Health and Ohio Department of Health data. Lorain County Public Health typically updates the COVID-19 death data at https://www.loraincountyhealth.com on Wednesdays. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.