Mass. notifies state providers to halt Johnson & Johnson vaccine rollout Email to a Friend A nurse filled a syringe with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in the Staten Island borough of New York.Mary Altaffer/Associated Press Massachusetts and several other states, including Maine and Rhode Island, on Tuesday swiftly announced pauses of the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, abiding by federal recommendations so officials can investigate reports of blood clots in six recipients out of the more than 6 million people who have received the single-dose shot. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the stateâs COVID-19 Command Center both confirmed the J&J pause in Massachusetts.