Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine dose deliveries across the United States are expected to fall by more than 80% next week, according to state and state officials, as J&J faces the challenges of manufacturing.
The federal government has allocated just 700,000 doses of J&J vaccine to U.S. states, territories and certain cities and federal agencies next week, compared to 4.9 million doses allocated this week, according to information posted online by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The expected sharp decline will complicate the mass vaccination plans of state officials at a time when they have a higher supply of doses to help immunize the growing number of people becoming eligible.
It’s unclear why next week’s supply is declining so sharply, although federal officials have warned states that there may be week-to-week fluctuations.
J&J recently experienced a production problem at a contract manufacturer’s plant in Baltimore – a factor cited by some state officials – but that plant has not been authorized by U.S. regulators to supply doses to the U.S.