According to government officials and federal data, deliveries of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine doses in the US are expected to drop by more than 80% next week as J&J grapples with manufacturing challenges.
The federal government assigned just 700,000 doses of J & J’s vaccine to U.S. states, territories and certain cities and federal agencies next week, compared to 4.9 million doses allocated for this week, according to information posted online by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. .
The projected sharp drop will complicate state officials’ massive vaccination plans at a time when they are counting on a greater supply of doses to help immunize the growing number of eligible people.
It’s not clear why next week’s supply is dropping so sharply, although federal officials have warned states that there could be week-to-week fluctuations.
J&J recently encountered a manufacturing problem at a contract manufacturer’s plant in Baltimore – a factor cited by some government officials – but that plant has not been authorized by US regulators to deliver doses to the US