Above, San Francisco announces the pause of the J&J vaccine in mid-April.
Sonoma and Solano counties did not respond to KQED’s questions about restarting the J&J vaccine in time for publication.
“Alameda County and City of Berkeley will align with other Bay Area counties and will plan to resume the use of our modest, existing supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as quickly as possible,” the Alameda County Public Health Department said in a statement Friday.
In the statement, the county said they agree that “the benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine far outweigh the risks” and re-upped the reminder that “the best vaccine is the first one offered to them.”
San Mateo County says it has 1,220 doses on hand. County officials noted that the J&J has been “used for all populations generally” but has been beneficial for use on “targeted populations,” including people who are homeless or homebound because it only requires one shot.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County public health officials went ahead with telling vaccine providers they could resume administering Johnson & Johnson doses, if they give out an updated fact sheet about the vaccine to recipients.
Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, says the county has been working on developing additional materials to explain the rare blood clotting issue that prompted the J&J vaccine pause on April 13. Those materials will include signs and symptoms to be aware of, he says.
This article has been updated to reflect comments from Santa Clara County.
—KQED's Julie Chang, Associated Press