A lower number of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses will be shipped to states in the coming week, the White House said Friday.
The lower level stems from the company working to resolve manufacturing issues at a facility in Baltimore, Maryland.
A batch of vaccines at the Emergent facility late last month failed quality control, reportedly ruining up to 15 million doses.
Johnson & Johnson later took charge of the plant and said more officials would be added to oversee operations and quality.
Because Johnson & Johnson must get Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance before resuming operations at the facility, states should expect a lower number of vaccines, Jeffrey Zients, President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 coordinator, told reporters during a virtual briefing.
“Johnson & Johnson expects a relatively low level of weekly dose delivery until the company secures FDA authorization,” he said.
The company still projects being able to meet, or get close to meeting, its earlier goal of providing 100 million doses to the United States by the end of May.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that in total, states will receive just 700,000 Johnson & Johnson shots in the week of April 12, a drop from 4.9 million the previous week.
Some states are getting under 10,000 doses, with Alaska slated to receive just 1,900 shots.
