If you have an allergic reaction to the first dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, then vaccination providers can use the Johnson & Johnson (or Janssen) vaccine as a substitute for your second dose, according to Jessica MacNeil, MPH, an epidemiologist at the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “In exceptional situations where the first dose of an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine was received, but the patient is unable to complete the series with either the same or a different mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, for example due to a contraindication, a single dose of Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine may be administered at a minimum interval of 28 days from the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose,” MacNeil said during a March 1 emergency meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, as reported by CNBC. She further added that this should only be done “under the supervision of a healthcare provider,” as the safety and efficacy of getting one shot of Moderna or Pfizer and one of Johnson & Johnson has not yet been tested. And for more from the CDC on vaccine safety, The CDC Says Don’t Do This Within 2 Weeks of Your COVID Vaccine. This new practice could be useful for people who have an allergic reaction to the first dose of Moderna or Pfizer and cannot continue their vaccination process—meaning they are not “fully vaccinated” against COVID. Currently, the CDC says you “should not get the second dose” of either Moderna’s or Pfizer’s vaccines if you experienced a severe or immediate allergic reaction to the first dose. According to the CDC, an allergic reaction is “considered severe when a person needs to be treated with epinephrine or EpiPen or if they must go to the hospital.” An immediate allergic reaction happens within four hours of getting vaccinated, and does not necessarily have to be considered severe. And for more extreme vaccine reactions, If This Happens After Your Vaccine, the FDA Says You Should Call 911. While this guideline change may help some, the vast majority of people won’t need to consider it. After all, the CDC says that severe allergic reactions, also known as anaphylaxis, can happen with any vaccination but are rare after the coronavirus vaccine. In fact, they report that only about two to five people per million vaccinated in the U.S. have experienced anaphylaxis after getting the COVID vaccine. “This kind of allergic reaction almost always occurs within 30 minutes after vaccination,” the CDC says. “Fortunately, vaccination providers have medicines available to effectively and immediately treat patients who experience anaphylaxis following vaccination.” And for more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb The CDC keeps Americans up-to-date with best vaccine practices for Moderna and Pfizer through their clinical consideration guidelines. Since Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was just authorized recently, this vaccine is not yet included in these guidelines. According to a document released by the CDC on March 1, the agency’s “clinical considerations are being updated” to include this new vaccine. Given how different this one-shot vaccine is from Moderna’s and Pfizer’s, there are likely to be a substantial number of new updates and recommendations from the CDC. And for more on this vaccine, These Are the Side Effects of the New Johnson & Johnson Vaccine, FDA Says.
