Can you still get the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine?
A member of the Philadelphia Fire Department prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Philadelphia on March 26, 2021. Johnson & Johnson has reportedly stopped the production of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
Matt Rourke, Associated Press
Johnson & Johnson has reportedly stopped the production of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, signaling that the company may cut back on its overall production of the vaccine.
The news: The New York Times reports that Johnson & Johnson quietly shut down production at a plant in the Netherlands, which was the only location that was creating usable doses of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine.
Yes, but: “The facility, in the Dutch city of Leiden, has instead been making an experimental but potentially more profitable vaccine to protect against an unrelated virus,” per The New York Times
The other side: J&J did not confirm the planet closure, but told CBS News that ”we currently have millions of doses of our COVID-19 vaccine in inventory” and “we continue to fulfill our contractual obligations ... (to) the African Union.”
One thing to watch: In October 2021, Johnson & Johnson said it would commit about 50 million vaccines to COVAX, the global initiative to give vaccines throughout the world, according to The Hill.