Infectious disease specialist Dr. Amesh Adalja discusses Johnson & Johnson’s approval of the vaccine, which he believes will help accelerate the implantation process.
Biden government officials have indicated that they are unsure whether Johnson & Johnson will eventually deliver on its promise to provide 20 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine by the end of March.
During a press conference at the White House on Monday, Andy Slavitt, the government’s senior adviser on the COVID-19 response, did not commit to believing that the number would be reached.
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“I would not signal to you that they will be a long way from the numbers they projected, more or less,” said Slavitt. “Obviously, we are holding them accountable and working closely with them.”
Dr. Richard Nettles, vice president of medical affairs at Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Infectious Diseases and Vaccines, told a House subcommittee in February that the company planned to deliver more than that amount before April.
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“Assuming the necessary regulatory approvals related to our manufacturing processes, our plan is to start shipping immediately after emergency use authorization and deliver enough single doses by the end of March to allow vaccinations for more than 20 million Americans,” said Nettles.
Nettles also said the company planned to have 100 million doses of vaccines delivered in the first half of 2021.
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Three senior Biden government officials told Politico that the 20 million doses may not be delivered in full until the second or third week of April. As of Monday night, CDC data said that only 4,253,900 doses of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson had been delivered. Authorities told the media that regulatory issues may be behind the delays, and another source said that FDA authorizations for partners Emergent BioSolutions and Catalent could result in the delivery of “tens of millions” of doses.
Johnson & Johnson continues to assert that it will achieve its goal on time.
“We expect to deliver 20 million single injection vaccines by the end of March,” the company said in a statement.
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Johnson & Johnson announced earlier this month that it is partnering with another healthcare giant, Merck, to manufacture its vaccine.
“Our industry realized in the early days of the pandemic that vaccine development was not a race between competitors – it was a race against time to defeat a common enemy,” said Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, when visiting the White House on March 10. “Our new collaboration with Merck will allow us to be even more ambitious in our goals to keep as many people safe as possible around the world.”