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Sunday, October 1, 2023 | 
Coronavirus U.S. & World

The amount of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines available are about to drop, and no one knows why

Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses will drop this week. Here’s what we know

By Herb Scribner Herb Scribnerhscribner@deseretnews.com
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This September 2020 photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows the investigational Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. Johnson & Johnson’s long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine appears to protect against symptomatic illness with just one shot – not as strong as some two-shot rivals but still potentially helpful for a world in dire need of more doses.

This September 2020 photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows the investigational Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. The amount of available Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses will drop this week by a significant amount, and no one is really sure why, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Cheryl Gerber, Johnson & Johnson via AP

The amount of available Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses will drop this week by a significant amount, and no one is really sure why, according to The Wall Street Journal.

  • The amount of expected doses will plunge by 80%, per The Wall Street Journal.
  • “It isn’t clear why next week’s supply is decreasing so sharply, though federal officials have cautioned states there could be fluctuations week to week,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Related

This will impact the mass vaccination strategy of the United States, though.

Recent delay from Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

At the start of April, workers at a manufacturing plant that developed the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine had an issue where vaccine ingredients got mixed up, which ruined 15 million doses of the vaccine, according to The New York Times.

  • The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would have to push back shipments of the J&J vaccine because of the error, as I wrote for the Deseret News.
  • But the error will “not affect any Johnson & Johnson doses that are currently being delivered and used nationwide, including the shipments that states are counting on next week,” per The New York Times.