15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine end up in the trash
REUTERS - Dado Ruvic
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
According to the
New York Times
, some 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine were mistakenly wasted at a US plant in Baltimore.
Publicity
Read more
This could cause delays in the supply of Johnson & Johnson vaccines to the United States.
Several weeks ago, workers at the Baltimore plant run by partner company Emergent BioSolutions confused ingredients needed to make the vaccine,
The
New York Times reported
Wednesday.
Contacted by Agence France-Presse, Johnson & Johnson did not confirm the number of 15 million, but said quality checks carried out on the spot had "
identified a batch of drug substance not meeting quality standards at Emergent BioSolutions, a site that is not yet authorized to manufacture a drug substance for our vaccine against Covid-19
”.
"
This batch has never been sent to the filling and finishing stages of our manufacturing process
," added the pharmaceutical giant in a statement.
Experts dispatched to the site
The US Drugs Agency (FDA) has been made aware and "
additional experts
" have been dispatched to oversee operations, according to the company.
"
In coordination with the US Department of Health, these measures will allow us to safely deliver 24 million doses of vaccine during the month of April,
" she said.
The
New York Times
specifies that the doses of this vaccine currently delivered to the United States are not affected, as they come from the Netherlands.
But future deliveries were to come from this Baltimore plant, whose production authorization is now delayed, adds the daily.
J & J's vaccine is given as a single injection;
15 million doses are therefore equivalent to 15 million people vaccinated.
The United States is counting on this vaccine to speed up its vaccination campaign, which has been carried out with great speed.
They ordered 100 million doses of this remedy, authorized in emergency at the end of February in the country - after the vaccines of Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.
Twenty million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine have already been distributed in March in the United States, according to the company, in accordance with the targets that had been set.
►
Read also: Covid-19 in the United States: vaccination continues, the increase in infections too
US President Joe Biden announced in early March that he wanted the United States to double its order from the company, buying 100 million doses in addition to the 100 million that are already the subject of a contract.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Coronavirus
United States
Vaccines