University of Iowa will continue to vaccinate campus with Pfizer and Moderna as supplies allow after canceling Johnson & Johnson vaccinations
The University of Iowa announced the cancellation of Johnson & Johnson vaccinations on Tuesday after federal health officials issued the recommendations. While the UI did not explicitly offer rescheduling options, it said it would continue to vaccinate students, faculty, and staff with the two-dose Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines. The UI was relying on the Johnson & Johnson to quickly vaccinate students before leaving campus for the summer.
The Old Capitol building is seen on March, 6, 2021.
April 14, 2021
In an email update Wednesday, the University of Iowa told campus it would continue vaccinating students, faculty, and staff with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as supply allows after canceling Johnson & Johnson appointments because of federal directives.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and subsequently the Iowa Department of Public Health recommended agencies pause Johnson & Johnson vaccinations until further notice after six cases of severe blood-clotting were reported in women after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. About 6 million doses of the one-shot vaccine have been administered in the U.S.
The UI said students who had a scheduled Johnson & Johnson vaccination appointment would receive a notification that their appointment was canceled, however no information was provided about rescheduling appointments.
“The university does not control the number of does it receives from the state and county,” UI Assistant Vice President for External Relations Jeneane Beck wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan. “We will communicate additional information to students regarding scheduling as soon as we have more information to share. We are eager to vaccinate those who wish to be vaccinated.”
Still having limited doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the UI said it will continue to vaccinate the campus community, but encouraged students and employees to seek out vaccinations at other approved locations.
“We will continue to vaccinate students, faculty, and staff with available supplies of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, but the number of vaccines we can give is dependent on the number of doses we receive from the state and county,” the email stated.
Beck wrote in an email that Student Health had received 1,400 doses of Johnson & Johnson for this week. Five hundred doses had been administered by the end of the day Monday, before the federal recommendation to pause administration of the vaccine on Tuesday.
In new COVID-19 cases, the UI reported eight new COVID-19 cases among students and employees, four in each respective category since Monday.
The UI also reported that there are zero residence hall students in quarantine as of right now, but two residence hall students are in isolation.