What you should know
- Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that Johnson & Johnson’s supply problems may mean fewer appointments available.
- The drugmaker said it had to discard 15 million doses of its single-dose vaccine regimen last month because a batch of its key active ingredient did not meet quality control standards.
- Nationally, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has accounted for less than 3 percent of all vaccine doses administered in the US according to the CDC.
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NEW YORK – Less than a week after New York State extended vaccine eligibility to all residents 16 and older, Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that Johnson & Johnson’s recent production problems may mean fewer appointments available in the short term.
The drug company said Wednesday that it had to discard 15 million doses of its single-dose vaccine regimen last month because a batch of its key active ingredient did not meet quality control standards at a Baltimore facility.
While the production issue is not expected to affect President Joe Biden’s late-May deadline to have a sufficient supply of vaccines for all American adults, it may hamper efforts by states to accelerate their own launches to meet the demand. increased demand for eligibility.
Cuomo said on Friday that Johnson & Johnson’s New York State allocation for next week will drop about 88 percent, to about 34,900, from the previous week. It will mark the first decreased weekly allowance the state has received lately.
“While appointments shouldn’t be canceled, we won’t be able to do as many injections into the arms of New Yorkers as we want,” Cuomo said. “We hope that the production problems will be resolved as soon as possible and that production will increase rapidly so that we can expand the number of New Yorkers who are vaccinated.”
As of Friday, New York State has fully vaccinated about 23.1 percent of its population; More than 7.1 million New Yorkers, 36 percent of the state’s population, have received at least one dose. In the city, 20.6 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, while a third have received at least one dose.
The New York Vaccine Tracker does not break down which vaccines have been administered to its population in terms of population. The New Jersey tracker, however, does. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine represents only 3 percent of all vaccine doses administered in the Garden State to date. But officials warn that the reduction in supply related to production may cause some delays.
State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said Johnson & Johnson of New Jersey’s weekly allowance would drop from 131,000 doses this week to 15,600 next week, a drop of 88 percent. He warned that it could drop to 5,200 the following week, marking a 96 percent decline in two weeks.
Gov. Phil Murphy says the production problem appears to be a “short-term problem” for Johnson & Johnson, which he says gives him peace of mind. To date, New Jersey has fully vaccinated nearly 23 percent of its population, while nearly 37 percent have received at least one dose.
Nationally, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has accounted for less than 3 percent of all vaccine doses administered in the United States, according to the CDC. However, the vaccine, which is completely inoculated with a single injection, has accounted for more than double that percentage in complete vaccines (7.4 percent).
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, made by the company’s subsidiary, Janssen, was shown to be 86 percent effective in preventing severe forms of COVID-19, reports NBC News. It received emergency use clearance from the FDA in late February and released about 4 million doses right away, but shipments have since stalled.
Nearly 26 percent of all American adults over the age of 18 have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. More than 43 percent have received at least one dose.
The national launch may be about to take another significant step in the coming weeks. Pfizer and its German partner BioNtech said on Friday that they asked the FDA to extend the authorization of emergency use of their vaccine to adolescents aged 12 to 15 years. So far, this vaccine is the only one licensed for use among 16-17 year olds.
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