Johnson & Johnson allocations hit speed bump
Problems with Baltimore plant being addressed
Doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine will be in short supply until the feds sign off on a Baltimore plant plagued by production issues.
White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters on Friday that J&J is installing a new leadership team to oversee vaccine production, and is working with the FDA to “resolve any manufacturing issues” at Emergent BioSolutions in Baltimore, where quality problems led the company to toss 15 million doses.
“Johnson & Johnson expects a relatively low level of weekly dose delivery until the company secures FDA authorization,” for the plant, Zients said.
Nationwide supplies of the J&J vaccine are expected to plummet to just 700,000 next week from more than 4.9 million this week.
Massachusetts is slated to receive 12,300 doses of the one-shot vaccine next week, compared to 103,800 this past week and 40,800 the week prior, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker, as supplies from the drug maker continue to fluctuate.
J&J hopes the Baltimore facility, once approved, will help bring its output to about 8 million weekly doses to be distributed across state and federal channels, potentially in late April, Zients said.
“We do expect week-toweek lower levels until the plant is approved by the FDA,” Zients said Friday, adding, “I do think that the company is doing everything they can.”
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna remain on track to deliver 200 million doses each of their two-shot vaccines by the end of May as the nation remains locked in a race to vaccinate against variants.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky acknowledged the “complexity of our current state” in the pandemic during Friday’s briefing.
“On the one hand, we have so much reason for optimism and hope, and more Americans are being vaccinated and protected from COVID-19,” said Walensky, a Massachusetts General Hospital alum. “On the other hand, cases and emergency room visits are up, and as I’ve highlighted through the week, we are seeing these increases in younger adults, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated.”
President Biden has set April 19 as the deadline for states to make all adults over the age of 16 eligible to get a vaccine. More than 112 million Americans have received at least one dose, and more than 66 million are fully vaccinated.