Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrives in Butler County

Butler County Public Health’s ability to vaccinate the area population is getting a boost this with the announcement that they will be receiving a shipment of the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The announcement was met with great enthusiasm by Butler County Public Health Director Jennifer Becker, who has been waiting patiently for the one-shot vaccine so it can be distributed to the area’s manufacturing workers. “I was doing a happy dance in my cubicle when I saw what it was,” said Becker. Becker immediately reached out to area manufacturers to set up clinics, most of which should be done over the next couple weeks. The county received 500 doses of the J&J vaccine, of which Becker estimates at least 350 will be used to inoculate the manufacturing workers. “What’s left, of course, can get sent out to the general public,” said Becker. In the meantime, though all adults are now eligible to receive the vaccine, Becker says that the clinics will still be focused on getting through the last of the county’s priority groups for the immediate future. Those newly eligible for the vaccine can still call to have their name put on the list and will be contacted when their time comes around. Becker also noted that while people aged 16 and up are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, that vaccine is not available in Butler County due to its strict cold storage limitations. Butler County to this point has only received the Moderna vaccine, which has only been approved for people 18 and older. Parents that wish to have their 16 or 17 year old child vaccinated will have to find a different route. “We can’t vaccinate them because they’re not eligible for the vaccine that we have,” said Becker. Butler County Public Health will be doing a boost clinic on Wednesday, special manufacturing clinics on Thursday, and a prime clinic on Friday. As of Monday, April 5, approximately 8,850 doses of vaccine have been administered to Butler County residents, with 3,591 residents completing their two-dose vaccine series and an additional 88 receiving a one-dose vaccine. A total of 1,614 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the county, increasing the county total in the last week by five cases. In Butler County, 6,973 individuals have been tested at some point during the pandemic, with a total of 28,070 tests performed on Butler County residents overall. In the last 14 days, 1.2% of total tests have been positive for the virus. No additional deaths have been reported, keeping the county’s total at 33.