Johnson & Johnson expects to be well below its commitment to deliver 10 million doses of its own Covid-19 vaccine in late February, with less than $ 4 million to be ready to be shipped after the emergency uses authorization was expected from the Food and Drug Administration.
The disclosure of the deficit by Johnson & Johnson is the first public measure of the extent to which the pharmaceutical company has lagged behind its production targets. Johnson & Johnson promised to deliver 25 million more by the end of March.
“We will have 20 million doses of the vaccine available by the end of March and we are ready to ship, immediately after the emergency use authorization, nearly 4 million doses of our vaccine,” Dr. Richard Nettles, Johnson & Johnson The vice president of medical affairs for the Janssen subsidiary said Tuesday at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
He said the company is still “confident in our plans to deliver 100 million” doses by the end of June.
As a single-dose vaccine that can be stored at standard refrigerator temperature for three months, the Johnson & Johnson candidate had been touted as a key breakthrough in the U.S. vaccination effort despite its slightly lower efficacy, in compared to the two-dose vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.
“It’s a very easy vaccine to send and administer; it doesn’t have all these complicated requirements, especially like Pfizer, which is a much more delicate vaccine. A single dose, you get it, that’s it. This is the vaccine I want.” said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief physician of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
While the vaccine is logistically simpler, states could face obstacles in deciding which sites should be prioritized for the highest doses or how to handle residents hoping to get one vaccine over another. Some of those guidelines could arrive this weekend, after the Immunization Control and Prevention Center’s Immunization Practices Advisory Committee meets to discuss Johnson & Johnson’s version.
“I think there’s such a feeling in a lot of jurisdictions that it would be great if this vaccine contained very specific recommendations on who should take it and how to use it,” Plescia said.
States still don’t know how many doses of Johnson & Johnson they should expect. The Biden administration expects to be able to allocate 2 million doses next week to jurisdictions.
Both Johnson & Johnson and federal officials have acknowledged for weeks that the company faced obstacles while production increased in the US, asking the administration to do so modify your vaccination goals.
Last year, states received specific allocations of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines weeks before FDA approval.
“We plan to be ready when the US is approved. It’s not about standing up to the US, we’re just making sure we have everything blocked, so that when the US decision comes, the distribution to the people of America is made immediate in 24 hours, ”General Gus Perna, head of the Trump administration’s vaccine distribution effort, told reporters last year.
By comparison, earlier this week Biden administration officials had refused to provide a specific number of doses they expected from Johnson & Johnson, let alone what assignments states should expect. Asked whether some of the doses would be reserved for pharmacies or other federal programs, the administration only said Monday that it hoped to end its strategy after the FDA and CDC weighed in.
“Once we understand what the scientific community needs to say, we will be in a position to answer, I think, the very relevant questions we need the advice of scientists,” said Andy Slavitt, senior White House adviser.