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An official told CNN that the government has not sent any doses of the J&J vaccine to states since the first week of May. This number is in line with data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine shipments.
Come the delay, however, as the pace of vaccination has slowed in recent weeks and nearly half of the eligible US population – people 12 and older – have already been fully vaccinated. J&J vaccine is approved for use in people 18 years of age or older.
Nearly 11 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — about half of the more than 21 million doses delivered to states and other jurisdictions — have not been given, according to CDC data.
Jeff Zents, the White House’s Covid-19 response coordinator, said the doses would go abroad. “We’re shipping Johnson & Johnson doses to other countries,” Zentes told CNN reporter Jake Tapper on Thursday.
The lack of shipments is directly related to issues related to the Emergent BioSolutions plant in Baltimore. The facility, which has been plagued by contamination issues, has not yet produced a single usable dose of the J&J vaccine as it awaits regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Extending the shelf life of the Covid-19 vaccine. The move increases the vaccine’s refrigerated storage time from three months to 4½ months, and comes as some states have said currently available doses are due to expire at the end of June, possibly before they can be used.
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