Company expects vaccine results soon; production lags

Johnson & Johnson expects to release critical results from its COVID-19 vaccine trial in as little as two weeks — a potential boon in the effort to protect Americans from the coronavirus — but the company most likely won’t be able to provide as many doses this spring as it promised the federal government because of manufacturing delays.

If the vaccine can protect people against COVID-19, as some outside scientists expect, it would offer big advantages over the two vaccines authorized in the United States. Unlike those products, which require two doses, Johnson & Johnson’s could need just one, greatly simplifying logistics for local health departments and clinics struggling to get shots in arms. What’s more, its vaccine can stay stable in a refrigerator for months, whereas the others have to be frozen.

But the encouraging prospect of a third effective vaccine is tempered by apparent lags in the company’s production. In the company’s $1 billion contract signed with the federal government in August, Johnson & Johnson pledged to have 12 million doses of its vaccine ready by the end of February, ramping up to a total of 100 million doses by theendofJune.

Federal officials have been told that the company has fallen as much as two months behind the original production schedule and won’t catch up until the end of April, according to two people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Any delay could be critical because the federal government has secured only enough vaccine doses to inoculate 200 million of the 260 million eligible adults in the first half of this year. With the nation in the grip of its largest surge of the coronavirus to date and the death toll escalating to as high as 4,000 a day, Americans desperate to be vaccinated are lining the sidewalks outside vaccination centers.

Dr. Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, said he expected to see clinical trial data showing whether his company’s vaccine is safe and effective in late January or early February.

“We are not ready to release the numbers month by month at the moment, as we are in the discussion with the FDA,” he said.

If the data is positive and the Food and Drug Administration authorizes the vaccine for emergency use, he added, “hopefully somewhere in March we’ll be able to contribute” to the nation’s vaccination drive.

Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said even if Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine pans out, it won’t be enough. He predicted states would need a total of four vaccines in the next six months if they hope to reach their goals of offering a vaccine to every American who wants one.