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State expects about 4,000 Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 doses this week

Johnson & Johnson vials on a table in preparation to vaccinate at least 200 essential workers at the Chelsea Senior Center earlier this month.Erin Clark/Globe Staff

Massachusetts is expected to receive about 4,000 doses of one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, according to the state, after federal officials allowed health providers to resume its use following reports of a rare, though serious, blood-clotting condition.

And CVS expects to make appointments through stores currently holding Johnson & Johnson vaccine supply starting this week, according to Joe Goode, a company spokesman Sunday.

News of the expected Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses came as the state reported 77,703 new vaccinations Sunday, bringing the total number of administered doses to more than 5.6 million. That total included vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, as well as Johnson & Johnson.

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The total number of people fully vaccinated — with either two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson — was more than 2.3 million Sunday, according to the state.

On Friday night, the state authorized use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, after receiving word that the US Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration lifted a pause on the vaccine.

Federal officials had halted the Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s use April 13 as they investigated a rare blood-clotting condition that affected 15 vaccine recipients, all of whom were women and most under age 50. Three of the women died.

Nearly 8 million people nationwide have been given the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, federal officials have said.

Investigators said that they believed that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a critical part of the nation’s arsenal against COVID-19, and allowed its use with warnings meant to help women decide between it and the two-dose vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.

In Massachusetts, shipments of Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been sporadic and allocation numbers have varied from week to week, according to a statement from Kate Reilly, a spokeswoman for the state COVID-19 Response Command Center.

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The state currently has 6,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine in reserve, Reilly said Sunday.

Providers that were previously allocated Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses by the state or through the federal government may use their current remaining inventory, according to the statement.

CVS said people can check CVS.com to schedule appointments, and “all warnings and precautions will be appropriately communicated throughout the vaccination process,” Goode said.

Also on Sunday, the state Department of Public Health reported six new confirmed COVID-19 deaths, bringing the state’s death toll to 17,199. There were also 1,085 new cases of the disease, and the state’s total number of cases rose to more than 640,000 since the pandemic began.

Nearly 30,000 people were estimated to have active cases of the life-threatening virus as of Sunday, and 641 people were hospitalized, according to the state.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.


John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.