Baker blasts blocked shots

Gov says pharma isn’t delivering as promised

Gov. Charlie Baker took shots at vaccine producers Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, blaming the sluggish pace of the vaccine rollout in Massachusetts on the slow production by the drug companies.

“If you’re looking for someone to reach out to on this, start asking the folks in D.C. why Moderna and Pfizer have not delivered on the level of participation that they said, less than 10 days ago in front of Congress, that they were going to deliver on in the month of March and why J&J has missed all of their deadlines,” Baker said during a Wednesday press conference at Shawmut Corporation in West Bridgewater. “It creates real complexity for every state in the country, every health care provider and every person who’s looking to get vaccinated.”

Nearly 1.5 million Massachusetts residents had received at least one dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine as of Tuesday in addition to another 26,000 who have received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to state health data.

President Biden’s administration this week said Massachusetts would not see a boost in its vaccine supply until at least April, according to Health Secretary Marylou Sudders.

Sudders said the “constrained supply” of doses coming into the state would mean people will continue to scramble for limited vaccine appointments.

Pfizer and Moderna — the first two companies to earn emergency use authorization from the FDA back in December — on Feb. 23 told Congress they expected to deliver 220 million shots by March 31. It’s a target federal lawmakers in late February said they thought would be challenging for drug companies to meet even as the companies said they were boosting production.

Johnson & Johnson too fell far short of its commitment to deliver 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by the end of February. The company had fewer than 4 million doses ready to when it earned emergency use authorization on Feb. 27. The company at the time said it would have 20 million doses of the vaccine by the end of March instead of the 25 million promised.

Baker’s “right, he needs more supply,” U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss told the Herald, adding that a “seismic shift” should be coming down the pipeline over the next six to eight weeks

POOL pHOTO A YEAR LATER: Gov. Charlie Baker and Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders hold N-95 masks they received Wednesday at Shawmut Corp. in West Bridgewater.