Officials with the Georgia Department of Public Health announced on Friday, April 9 they will be pausing distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the Cumming Fairgrounds after eight recipients “experienced adverse reactions after being vaccinated on Wednesday.”

In a news release, DPH officials said of the eight who had reactions to the vaccine “one person was evaluated at a hospital and released, the others were monitored at the site and sent home” and issues with keeping the vaccines cool may have been a factor.

“There is no reason to believe there is anything wrong with the vaccine itself, and other individuals who have received the J&J vaccine should not be concerned,” said Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H., DPH commissioner. “We are looking into what happened and what may have caused the reactions, including the conditions at the fairgrounds such as heat and the ability to keep the site cool.”

The release said the reactions were “consistent with common reactions in adults being vaccinated” but due to the high number of reactions, vaccinations were stopped for evaluation. 

Officials said there were 425 vaccines distributed at Wednesday’s event “and tens of thousands of J&J doses have been given statewide with no adverse reactions.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is evaluating incidents in Georgia, Iowa, Colorado and North Carolina and “has not found any reason for concern,” the release said. 

More information from the PDH is available at dph.ga.gov.