SUNY Potsdam site now offering Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccines for walk-ins

Ellis Giacomelli, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

May 7—POTSDAM — The state-run vaccination site at SUNY Potsdam's Maxcy Hall is now offering the one-shot Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

The site on Tupper Lake Drive was administering first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech two-shot vaccine until Friday.

Second-dose appointments still stand, and the St. Lawrence County Public Health Department is urging people to follow through with their second shots.

Beginning Saturday, the site is offering the J&J, or Janssen vaccine on a walk-in basis.

After an 11-day federal halt on administering the J&J vaccine and review of blood clot concerns, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the suspension be lifted on April 23.

The following day, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard A. Zucker announced New York's immediate return to administering the vaccine.

Of the nearly 8 million people to have received the J&J shot nationwide, 15 developed a rare blood clot, all of whom were women and all but one were younger than 50 years old. Three women died, and others were hospitalized.

"World-renowned public health experts from the federal government and our own independent state task force have reviewed the data and reaffirmed that the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can resume," Gov. Cuomo said.

Dr. Zucker said "the data has shown the vaccine's known benefits far outweigh the potential and extremely rare risks," and encouraged anyone with questions about the COVID-19 vaccines to talk with a health care provider.

Among the 30 state-run sites in New York, 10 are offering the J&J vaccine as of this weekend, most for walk-ins only. The full list of state-run sites is posted to am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov.

As of Friday morning, roughly 44% of St. Lawrence County's 108,047 residents have received at least one vaccine dose, according to the state Department of Health. Jefferson County sits at 36.2%, and Lewis County at 35.2%.

For the north country region — grouped as Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, Essex and Hamilton counties for COVID tracking — 43.7% of the total 418,971 population has received at least one vaccine. More than 182,000 people have completed a vaccine series as of Friday morning, the state DOH reports.

Statewide, roughly 9.5 million people, or about 47.7% of the total population, have received at least one shot. That figure has jumped by a little more than 1 million in the last seven days.