STATEWIDE — Florida is following Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration guidance, pausing all offerings of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine statewide, including at FEMA-supported sites.

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The federal agencies made the recommendation "out of an abundance of caution" after six recipients in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots.

“My hope would be that this is something that is a little bit of a speed bump and that you will be able to get back (to the vaccine),” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press conference Tuesday morning. “But we’re going to wait and see what ends up happening.”

DeSantis said there have not been any significant side effects of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Florida. As of Monday, more than 473,500 people had received this vaccine, state health department numbers show. 

Some people who already received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine said the news does worry them somewhat.

“Well, I was pretty shocked, I gotta admit, and concerned," said Kendrik Neely, who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccination last week. "Not like overly concerned, but I was definitely thinking about the ‘what ifs’ of it all, like everyone else.”

The news comes as a blow to the Central Floridians hoping to get the one-and-done vaccine and impacts countless vaccination sites statewide.

Erika Grumet, who was scheduled to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, is looking for other options, but not so much because of the potential blood-clotting issue.

“It does make me pause a little bit, and it’s something that I’ll definitely consult my own health-care team about,” Grumet said.

“I need to get the vaccination as soon as possible, and that’s really the priority, but I was really hoping to be able to get the Johnson & Johnson, and to be one-and-done.”

The FEMA-supported site at Valencia College’s West Campus had been authorized to distribute 3,000 Johnson & Johnson doses every day — with the potential to allocate more based on supply and demand.

State administrators say they had already given nearly 200 of those Johnson & Johnson shots Tuesday to people at the Orlando FEMA site when they paused those operations.  

The FEMA satellite sites have also been paused while they figure out an alternative.

Publix, CVS and Walgreens are also pausing use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, however they have the other vaccines available.

"This is under emergency use, and yes, they have been trials and it's been approved for emergency use, but it isn't like something that's been in use for 10 years," DeSantis said Tuesday. "So I think the caution is much more stringent on something like this."

The sites that had been administering Johnson & Johnson vaccinations are now looking at state supplies of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to see how they could supplement their operations while they aren’t giving the J&J shots.  

State administrators also said for now they’re sending the J&J shots they had back to local county health departments. Unlike the other brands, it can be stored in refrigeration for about three months.