Charlie counts on extra J&J vaccine doses
Mass. in line for 100G boost next week
Massachusetts is in line for a 100,000-dose boost of one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines next week, in what Gov. Charlie Baker called a “big deal” in the race to vaccinate residents.
But the news was tempered hours later by reports that workers at a Baltimore plant accidentally ruined about 15 million J&J doses, delaying future shipments in the United States.
As of Wednesday evening, the Baker administration had “not received any notice of delay in shipment of J&J vaccine” from the feds, COVID-19 Command Center spokeswoman Kate Reilly said.
“This news does not impact current appointments or allocations for any sites statewide and we remain prepared to work collaboratively with the federal government to avoid any disruption in vaccine shipments,” she added.
Earlier in the day, Baker said the “first really significant shipments” of J&J would be going out nationwide next week.
Of the 10 million total doses, 5 million will be allocated through the federal retail pharmacy program and the other half will go to states. Massachusetts is expected to receive “definitely north of 100,000 doses” next week, Baker said.
“I can’t tell you how important that is,” the governor said, adding that the single-dose vaccine “basically doubles the amount of capacity that’s available” to vaccinate, as well as “the speed with which somebody actually becomes fully vaccinated.”
The Vaccine Equity Now! coalition quickly urged Baker to use the additional doses to “follow through on his previous commitments and allocate at least 20% of these doses to Massachusetts’ hardest hit communities.”
“Since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one shot, these doses will be particularly impactful for people in our communities who have limited mobility or are homebound,” the coalition said in a statement.
The governor also didn’t say Wednesday whether the state would be updating its eligibility criteria to better align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for vaccine prioritization.
“Generally speaking, we’ve adopted the CDC guidelines for our phased enrollment,” Baker said, again noting the exception for moderate-to-severe asthma after the Herald first reported the condition, which is highly prevalent in many communities hardest hit by the virus, was left off the state’s list.
Baker was in Quincy on Wednesday to tour Father Bill’s Place shelter and announce $20 million for a variety of housing support programs. That includes $4 million toward replacing Father Bill’s & MainSpring’s existing emergency shelter with a two-building Housing Resource Center that will have a new shelter with about 100 beds, a day center and supportive housing apartments.