St. Cloud VA Health care
System announcement

News & Announcements

St. Cloud VA Resumes Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine

We're starting to offer the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine again. We continue to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In line with this guidance, we will offer this vaccine to Veterans, spouses, caregivers, and CHAMPVA recipients who are at least 18 years old.

When a very small number of people who received the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine experienced rare but serious blood clots, CDC and FDA experts recommended a pause in providing this vaccine so they could carefully study the issue, review these cases and examine all available data. Based on this review, they're confident that this vaccine is safe for use and works well to prevent COVID-19. The available data show:

• The vaccine's benefits outweigh its risks
• The chance of blood clots after getting this vaccine is very low.

The primary goal of COVID-19 vaccines is to protect those we serve from COVID-19. Your safety—and the safety of all who receive a COVID-19 vaccine from VA—remains our priority. If we offer you the Janssen vaccine, we'll give you information about the potential risks and benefits. This includes the rare risk of blood clots. We'll also tell you about your other vaccine options from VA.

For more information on how to get a vaccine from us, please visit our COVID-19 vaccines page: https://www.stcloud.va.gov/services/covid-19-vaccines.asp.

If you have questions about COVID-19 vaccines, please contact your primary health care provider.

To get regular updates about COVID-19 vaccines at VA, sign up to stay informed at https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/stay-informed.