Johnson & Johnson plant pauses Covid vaccine production, report says

The one Johnson & Johnson facility presently making usable batches of the corporate’s single-shot coronavirus vaccine has briefly halted its manufacturing, a brand new report mentioned Tuesday.

The Netherlands-based plant has as an alternative centered on making a unique, presumably extra worthwhile vaccine geared toward a unique virus, The New York Occasions reported, citing individuals conversant in the matter.

The pause in manufacturing on the Leiden facility, which started late final yr, might cut back the availability of J&J’s Covid vaccine by a whole bunch of tens of millions of doses, a type of individuals instructed the Occasions.

It’s unclear whether or not vaccine provides have been been affected by the corporate’s transfer, in line with the report. J&J is making ready to have the Leiden plant restart Covid vaccine manufacturing in March, the Occasions reported.

J&J spokesman Jake Sargent didn’t straight touch upon the Occasions’ article. He instructed CNBC in an announcement the corporate is “centered on making certain our vaccine is accessible the place individuals are in want,” and that it’s fulfilling its obligations to the worldwide teams making an attempt to spice up entry to the Covid vaccine.

J&J is constant to ship batches of the vaccine supplies to websites that bottle and bundle doses, and “we presently have tens of millions of doses of our Covid-19 vaccine in stock,” Sargent mentioned.

“We’re pleased with the work of our many business companions and the collaborations we now have developed to provide our Covid-19 vaccine,” he mentioned.

Polls present that many People have taken a skeptical eye towards the J&J Covid vaccine, which is the one one authorised by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration that requires only a single shot as a main dose, versus the two-dose routine of vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.

The FDA final yr really useful pausing using the J&J vaccine following a small variety of studies of recipients growing uncommon blood clots. It was additionally discovered to be much less efficient in opposition to the lethal delta variant that emerged final yr.

However a number of research have proven the shot stays efficient at stopping hospitalization and loss of life from Covid, and a booster dose has been proven to be efficient in defending in opposition to extreme sickness from the extremely transmissible omicron variant.

The J&J vaccine can be simpler to move and distribute, owing to the truth that it requires only one dose and will be saved with out a freezer, offering safety for individuals who could in any other case be unable to get absolutely vaccinated.

Learn the complete report from The New York Occasions.