By Meghan Brink | April 13, 2021
The closed point of dispensing scheduled for today at SEFCU Arena will now administer the Pfizer vaccine after new guidelines were announced by the CDC and the FDA calling for a pause in distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The university, in partnership with Russell Sage College, had planned to distribute 1,300 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to eligible UAlbany students and staff today. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is now under safety review by the CDC and the FDA to investigate cases of blood clotting.
According to AP News, unusual blood clotting has been found in six women between the ages of 18 and 48. The symptoms appeared 6 to 13 days after the women had been inoculated. One fatality has resulted due to the clotting.
“Out of abundance of caution for our students, faculty and staff, we have alternatively secured the Pfizer vaccine for today’s POD,” said Communications Specialist Kelsey Butz.
According to Butz, students who signed up for the today’s vaccine distribution at SEFCU Arena will be automatically scheduled for their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which will take place on May 4. Students with an appointment for today’s POD are recommended to arrive 15 minutes earlier than originally scheduled.
A statement in the New York Times from New York’s health commissioner Dr. Zucker stated that appointments at state-run vaccination sites for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will now offer the Pfizer vaccine in replacement.