On March 1, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) became the third company to gain Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 vaccine, following in the footsteps of Moderna (MRNA) and Pfizer (PFE). With its single-shot dosage and an overall efficacy rate of 85% for severe cases across all regions studied, there was plenty of eagerness for JNJ’s vaccine when news of its approval broke. Lately, though, a more concerning narrative has emerged as safety and manufacturing issues surface.Over the past few days, a few numerous concerning stories regarding its vaccine have emerged. Without rehashing all of the details, here’s a quick run-over of the issues:Health officials in North Carolina have stopped administering JNJ doses at a mass vaccination site in Raleigh and at clinics in Hillsborough and Chapel Hill after at least 26 people experienced unfavourable reactions, including fainting. This followed news that 11 people in Colorado had damaging reactions after receiving the shot.According to Bloomberg, the EMA is reviewing reports of serious blood clots from four people who received JNJ’s vaccine. According to the Wall Street Journal, deliveries of JNJ vaccine doses are estimated to drop by more than 80% next week. Although it’s not clear why the supply is expected to plummet so substantially, the steep drop-off doesn’t help sentiment, especially since states are pushing for greater supplies of vaccine doses.At JNJ’s Baltimore plant, its vaccine production partner Emergent BioSolutions (EBS) botched the manufacturing process as a main ingredient for the vaccine was ruined because it didn’t meet quality standards. Importantly, no doses with the questionable ingredients were distributed from the factory, but the error spoiled ~15 mln doses.It should be noted that at this time, the CDC is not recommending that health departments stop providing JNJ vaccinations. Also, the people who experienced the most severe reactions are all expected to recover. For its part, JNJ doesn’t foresee any change to its plan of delivering 100 million doses to the U.S. government by mid-year.
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