(Reuters) – The United States has put Johnson and Johnson at the helm of a plant that ruined 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine and prevented British drug maker AstraZeneca Plc from using the facility. said a senior health official on Saturday.
J&J said it “took full responsibility” for Baltimore’s Emergent BioSolutions facility, reiterating that it will deliver 100 million doses to the government by the end of May.
The Department of Health and Human Services facilitated the transfer, the health official said in an email, asking that he not be appointed because of the sensitivity of the matter.
AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has not been approved in the United States, said it will work with President Joe Biden’s administration to find an alternative location to produce the vaccine.
White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The development, first reported by the New York Times, further hampers AstraZeneca’s efforts in the United States. The government has criticized the drug manufacturer for using outdated data in the results of its vaccine trial. He later reviewed his study.
Workers at the Emergent BioSolutions plant several weeks ago combined ingredients for the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, the Times said earlier this week. J&J said at the time that the ruined lot had not advanced to the filling and finishing phase.
The government’s decision to make the facility make only the single-dose J&J vaccine intended to avoid future confusion, the Times said, citing two senior federal health officials.
The top U.S. infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday that the country may not need the AstraZeneca vaccine even if it gets approval.
The United States has loan agreements to ship to Mexico and Canada approximately 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, manufactured at its U.S. facilities.
Reports of Shubham Kalia and Vishal Vivek in Bengaluru; Additional reports from Steve Holland in Washington; Edited by David Gregorio and William Mallard