UPMC Is Ready to Vaccinate Our Communities

Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine continues to expand in Pennsylvania and nationwide, and UPMC is ready to vaccinate people throughout our communities. To date, UPMC has administered more than 400,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

All Pennsylvanians age 16 and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. We encourage you to schedule your vaccine today at a UPMC COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic in your region.

For more information on our vaccination efforts, visit UPMC.com/COVIDVaccine.

On April 13, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended a pause in the use and distribution of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine. The pause allows evaluation of a rare but serious blood clot after receiving the J&J vaccine. These adverse blood conditions, whether or not they were caused by the vaccine, are very rare.
At UPMC, we will always safely and promptly vaccinate those in our communities. We paused use of the J&J vaccine in line with the CDC and FDA recommendation.
If you or a loved one received a J&J vaccine, please know these specific adverse effects are very rare compared to the number of doses distributed (less than one reported case per million doses). Call your doctor if you have trouble breathing, a severe headache, and/or arm or leg swelling within weeks of a J&J vaccine. You should not proactively start to take medication such as aspirin to thwart a blood clot.

Millions of Americans are receiving their COVID-19 vaccines. Many have celebrated the occasion by posting a photo of their CDC vaccination card on their social media. However, doing that could put you at risk for identity theft.

Monoclonal antibodies are authorized as a treatment for COVID-19. Our data show that the treatment has dramatically reduced the risk of hospitalization and death in patients when they receive the treatment shortly after testing positive for COVID-19.

To date, we have given monoclonal antibody treatment to more than 1,600 patients with COVID-19. To learn more about monoclonal antibodies, and to watch a video explaining how they work, visit UPMC.com/AntibodyTreatment.