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Rural vaccine clinics halted after Johnson & Johnson pause

The pause of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine has also caused a pause on vaccines at rural Indiana clinics.

BAINBRIDGE, Ind. — The pause for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is causing a complete stoppage for some vaccine clinics in rural areas of Indiana. 

They have to cancel appointments with no alternate vaccine available.

Amanda Laney owns Crossroads Care Pharmacy in Bainbridge and Cloverdale Drugs Pharmacy. She wanted to help the effort to vaccinate Putnam County residents against COVID-19. 

A federal pharmacy program allocated the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to both her pharmacies, where they each were administering about 100 shots a week until Tuesday's pause recommended by the FDA and CDC.

“It's disappointment because I felt like we had just gotten going and were providing a great service to people that were wanting it and driving from near and far to get it,” said Laney Thursday at her Bainbridge location. “So, we were servicing our local population as well as some people that were specifically wanting that one."

The state map for scheduling your COVID-19 vaccine shows which brand is being given at each location. The green circles indicate Johnson & Johnson. But the two small, independent pharmacies in Putnam County have stopped taking appointments and canceled all appointments through the rest of the week, including a 50-dose clinic Saturday in Cloverdale.

"Ultimately, we're waiting just essentially to be told what to do,” said Laney. “We want to provide the service, but if it's something that they're not wanting us to do for a good reason, then obviously we're going to listen to them."

The state-run mass clinic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway switched to the Moderna vaccine and kept going. But the federal program has offered no alternative supply yet for Laney’s small pharmacies.

"For small communities, there's lots of people that maybe aren't able to travel for other options or don't want to,” said Laney. “Definitely, I think it's impactful."

Laney says about 400 people already received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at her pharmacies with no reports of serious side effects. Her pharmacies have appointments scheduled through the second week of May. She is advising people who have already signed up to consider

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