Survey: Confidence in Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine significantly lower than others since pause

ORLANDO, Fla. — Less than half of Americans are confident in the safety of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after its use was temporarily paused, according to a new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In the latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor, fielded just after the pause started, only 46 percent of respondents said they felt at least somewhat confident the vaccine was safe, compared to nearly 70 percent who say the same about the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

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Deana Montella is the Chief Nursing Officer of True Health, a community health center system in Central Florida.

Montella says they’re spending extra time educating people who are cautious about the vaccine.

“The Johnson and Johnson pause definitely didn’t help hesitancy at all,” Montella says.

True Health Centers had been offering both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but they too had to stop offering the single-dose shot following reports of rare blood clots.

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Montella says once they resumed giving the shots, there was a noticeable decrease in demand.

“We’ve had the schedule open for Johnson and Johnson this week, and we have had a dead schedule,” Montella says.”

Instead, Montella says, they’re opting for the Moderna shot.

“A lot of people have already taken that route,” Montella says. “But there are going to be some individuals that now are cautious to receive any vaccine.”

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That could explain the low demand at the FEMA Valencia College vaccination site after they resumed using the Johnson & Johnson shots.

The site had 3,000 Johnson & Johnson doses available a day, but most days they didn’t even administer 300.

However, it’s difficult to attribute the drop in demand specifically to concerns with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because the timing of the pause and restart coincides with an overall drop in vaccinations across the country.

Cox Media Group