The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment gave providers the OK to resume administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

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“We are happy to have this highly effective, one-dose vaccine back as an option for Coloradans,” said Dr. Eric France with CDPHE in a news release. “We appreciate the caution the CDC and FDA took to evaluate the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and are ready to ramp back up distribution as quickly as possible.”

On April 13, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommended providers to stop distributing the vaccine, after several cases of blood clots were reported across the country. 

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Additionally, a mass vaccination event held at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on April 8 was shut down after 11 people suffered adverse reactions to the J&J vaccine. 

Centura Health, the provider who ran the event, has not resumed using the J&J vaccine and is currently administering the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, said Kevin Massey, a spokesperson for Centura Health in an email statement to The Denver Gazette.

“We have received the information regarding the CDC advisory panel’s stance on the J&J vaccine and are in the process of reviewing it,” said Massey.

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CDPHE is recommending that providers and recipients should review an updated vaccine facts sheet, and should trust the investigation performed by the CDC and FDA.

“Vaccine safety and the health and safety of all Coloradans is a top priority,” France said. “The CDC and FDA conducted this investigation and review out of an abundance of caution and is a result of their long-standing and ongoing monitoring processes of all vaccines.”

Gov. Jared Polis said in a news release on Friday, that the resumption of the vaccine will assist in the states effort to reach herd immunity.

“The vaccine, which requires just one shot, is especially helpful in our efforts to protect those who may be transient, lack a medical home, or have transportation challenges,” Polis said. 

For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine, head to https://covid19.colorado.gov/vaccine.