CARSON CITY (KTNV) — During Wednesday’s public federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services says it learned that a Nevadan was one of the six reported serious reactions to the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine.
RELATED: What you need to know about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine situation
The state of Nevada was not informed of this reported reaction until the live, public meeting on Wednesday, according to the Nevada Health Response team. At that time, it was reported that the person in Nevada is an 18-year-old woman who reported a blood clot and a hemorrhage without an immediate word of recovery.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a joint statement recommending a pause in the use of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine while six serious reactions were investigated.
RELATED: FDA, CDC recommends a pause in use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine
Also on Tuesday, the state of Nevada paused the use of the vaccine.
RELATED: Nevada to pause Johnson & Johnson vaccinations amid federal review
"Right now, the risk of the disease, the risk of death from the disease is very high. The risk of the vaccinations very, very low. We don't want to say that you shouldn't be concerned at all about it, of course; that's why we're looking into things, but we're talking about something that is a very rare event if it is indeed related to the vaccine,“ says Dr. Brian Labus, infectious disease epidemiologist at UNLV.
Following Wednesday’s ACIP announcement, the Nevada Health Response team says DHHS immediately reached out to federal partners for more information and to understand why the report was not provided to the state.
"Whether the case was identified in Nevada or California or Arizona, that still matters to everybody, not just Nevadans, we need to look at what happened nationwide and is not like Nevada has a role in investigating that one case, this is something that needs to be investigated through the FDA the manufacture to make sure that the vaccine is safe to everyone nationwide,“ expressed Dr. Labus.
As of Monday, more than 6.8 million doses of the Janssen vaccine have been administered in the United States.
Anyone who has received the Janssen vaccine who develops a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.
Health care providers are required to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System here.
