Why Authorities Are Putting The Brakes on Johnson & Johnson's Vaccine In Several States

More concerns are coming out over the COVID-19 vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson JNJ.

What Happened: Health officials in Georgia have temporarily stopped distributing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at one site in the state's north. This is after a few people experienced adverse reactions, the Associated Press reports. 

Georgia's Department of Health said eight people at the vaccination site experienced adverse reactions after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Wednesday. A total of 425 people had been given the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on the same day. 

Georgia’s health commissioner, Dr. Kathleen Toomey said the agency is looking into what may have caused the reactions, including conditions "such as heat and the ability to keep the site cool," but that there's no reason to believe there is anything wrong with the vaccine.

See also: How to Buy Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Stock

Deliveries of Johnson & Johnson’s doses throughout the U.S. are expected to fall by more than 80% next week. 

According to the Associated Press, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was also halted at sites in Colorado, North Carolina, and Iowa in the past week.

On Wednesday, a vaccination site in Denver halted operations, and another in Raleigh, N.C., stopped using the J&J vaccine on Thursday. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the incidents in Georgia, Iowa, Colorado and North Carolina. 

Why It Matters: According to a Johns Hopkins University report, the U.S. reported more than 81,000 new cases of infection on Friday. 

The death rate on Friday fell to 944 from 1,000 a day earlier.

Worldwide, more than 134.7 million people have tested positive for COVID-19, and over 2.9 million people have died since the beginning of the pandemic, the report added. 

At present, more than 66 million people in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control data. More than 1.6 million Georgia residents have been fully vaccinated.