UPDATE | Valley health departments cancel, reschedule vaccination clinics
YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning Valley health departments have canceled several COVID-19 vaccination clinics after federal agencies called for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Almost as quickly, those seeking vaccinations can now sign up for Moderna shots in Youngstown.
The Youngstown City Health District canceled a clinic scheduled for today at Youngstown State University, and the mass vaccination clinic at the Covelli Centre scheduled for Wednesday.
Health Commissioner Erin Bishop said Youngstown City Health District will continue with coronavirus vaccine clinics next week with the Moderna vaccine. She said the department is encouraging people who had scheduled vaccinations for Wednesday at the Covelli Centre to reschedule their appointments for next week.
Bishop said there are openings for the Moderna vaccine on April 20 and 21 at Congregation Rodef Sholom, 1119 Elm St. There will also be a mass vaccination clinic at the Covelli Centre on Thursday, April 22 to administer 500 Moderna vaccines.
To schedule an appointment at Congregation Rodef Sholom, click here or call 330-502-4276.
Youngstown State University canceled its Johnson & Johnson clinic for students that was scheduled for Tuesday.
Bishop said about 260 students signed up for the YSU vaccine clinic, which is smaller compared to the 2,000 people vaccinated at clinics on March 30 and April 6.
Julie Gentile, director of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, said YSU plans to hold onto the Johnson & Johnson doses they have with the hope the doses can be used before students leave for the summer.
She said there would not be enough time to give two doses of the vaccine to students before the end of the spring semester on May 8. To have people fully vaccinated before the summer, vaccines would have to be in arms by April 20.
If Johnson & Johnson vaccines can be used again within the next week, they will reschedule appointments for students on campus, Gentile said.
"Unless we can get approval here in the next week, we'll be cutting it pretty close to get it done," Gentile said.
MCPH canceled all appointments for Friday and Saturday (April 16 and 17) at its mass vaccination site at the former Dillard's site at Southern Park Mall where it planned to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The department is waiting for notice from the Ohio Department of Health regarding its allocation of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for mass vaccination site appointments on April 23 and 24, said MCPH Community Health Education Specialist Tracy Styka.
Meanwhile, MCPH is completing previously scheduled appointments for second doses of the Moderna shot this week.
The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after six women developed rare blood clots days after receiving the single-dose shots.
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 10:19 AM with the headline "UPDATE | Valley health departments cancel, reschedule vaccination clinics."