15 Million Doses of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Reportedly Ruined Over Human Error at Plant

Stephen Zenner/Getty Images

A stunning new report in the New York Times says that future shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been halted for the time being due to human error that ruined 15 million doses of the vaccine.

To be clear, the Times report says this “does not affect Johnson & Johnson doses that are currently being delivered and used nationwide.”

“All those doses were produced in the Netherlands, where operations have been fully approved by federal regulators,” it adds.

But future shipments of the one-dose shot — the third safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine approved by the FDA — are apparently being halted for the time being over a serious error at a Baltimore plant:

Workers at a Baltimore plant manufacturing two coronavirus vaccines accidentally conflated the vaccines’ ingredients several weeks ago, ruining about 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and forcing regulators to delay authorization of the plant’s production lines…

[A]ll further shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — projected to total tens of millions of doses in the next month — were supposed to come from the massive Baltimore plant.

Those shipments are now in question while the quality control issues are sorted out, according to people familiar with the matter.

As of this posting, the CDC is reporting a total of 150 million vaccine doses administered — which includes over 50 million Americans fully vaccinated and over half of all seniors fully vaccinated.

The vaccine rollout across the country has continued to ramp up, and the Times report says the delay isn’t going to affect the Biden administration’s timeline to provide enough vaccines for all American adults.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden said in a speech, “We’re now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May.”