More than a dozen Bronxites waiting in line for a COVID-19 vaccination watched in utter silence as a man was wheeled out of Yankee Stadium, placed inside an ambulance, and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. It is unknown if the man had received the vaccination or not.

 

A pair of paramedics pulled up to the East 161st Street entrance at Macombs Dam Bridge at 2:25 p.m. on Friday, April 9, and entered the stadium where at least two of the four available COVID-19 vaccines, including Johnson and Johnson, were being administered to Bronx residents.

 

A security guard at Yankee Stadium, speaking on condition of anonymity, downplayed the incident, saying, “They’ve been giving this shot out since February, and I’ve only seen this five or six times.” She added, “People are hesitant about taking their medications before getting the COVID-19 shot, or they don’t eat before they come to get the shot.”

 

Once an appointment is made online or by phone, Bronxites typically arrive at the stadium and follow the line of people already waiting, past a metal detector screening area. The line leads into the stadium where the playing field is visible, but doubles back and into a row of cubicles inside of the Ford Field MVP Club, the newest addition to Yankee Stadium’s many event spaces. Here, residents are questioned briefly before the vaccine is administered.

A separate area is designated for newly vaccinated folks to wait for 15 minutes to be evaluated by medical professionals. People with allergies are asked to wait for 30 minutes.

 

On Tuesday, April 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put a pause on the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine due to reports of blood clotting in six American women, while an investigation is carried out. Almost 7 million Americans have received the Johnson & Johnson shot so far. One of the six women who encountered blood clots has died, though the precise cause of death is not yet known.

 

Those who have gotten the Johnson and Johnson shot are being asked to check for any potential symptoms of a potential blood clot, like a headache, body aches or difficulty breathing during the first three weeks, after getting the shot.

 

On the same day as the CDC announcement, NBC News reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and head of the White House coronavirus task force, said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause will last days, not months. The same day, New York State Department of Health confirmed it had also suspended the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at all State sites, pending the federal level investigation, as reported by Norwood News. 

 

News of the suspension comes amid the release of statistics, reported by the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, that The Bronx has the lowest vaccination rate in New York City, at 35 percent, and amid the closure of one local Northwest Bronx mass vaccination site, at Bronx High School of Science, which had started to accept walk-in appointments. The news is a further blow to the efforts being taken by Bronx Community 7 Health committee to increase vaccination rates in the district.

 

A new vaccination site opened at Lehman College on April 14. On Saturday, April 17, Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. confirmed that the following Bronx sites are vaccinating New Yorkers 50+ without an appointment:

• Bronx Co-Op City Dreiser Community Center
• Northeast Bronx YMCA (Edenwald)
• South Bronx Educational Campus
• West Bronx Gymnasium
• Lehman College – Apex Center
• Bathgate Contract Postal Station

 

The FDNY did not immediately respond to a request for information regarding the Yankee Stadium incident.

 

On Friday, April 23, a CDC vaccine advisory committee recommended that the nationwide pause on the use of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine should be lifted following the completion of the investigation, as reported by The Hill.

 

The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 10-4 with one abstention, that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks, and that it will save lives, according to The Hill report.

 

The report added that the panel did not specifically ask for a warning label, but recommended that the FDA add a label intended to make providers aware of the risk of a rare complication involving blood clots in women under the age of 50.

 

In accordance with the updated FDA fact sheet, if you receive the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine, and within three weeks, you experience any of the following symptoms, you should contact your health care provider:

• Severe headache
• Chest or abdominal pain
• Leg pain or swelling
• Shortness of breath
• Easy bruising or tiny blood spots under the skin at the site of injection

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.