Millions of Johnson & Johnson vaccines doses ruined, but what's next?

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Millions of Johnson & Johnson doses were ruined after a mix-up in a Maryland lab last week, canceling a huge shipment.

Johnson & Johnson released a statement Saturday that the company will take over full responsibility of the manufacturing of the drug substance needed for the vaccines at the Baltimore plant.

The drug maker confirmed quality issues with one batch of drug substance at the Emergent BioSolutions plant. The site has not yet been authorized to manufacture drug substance for the one and done shot. Johnson & Johnson emphasized the batch was never advanced to the filing and finishing stages of the manufacturing process, according to a statement released by the company. The problem with the batch was caught during a test run and quality check process.

For those reluctant to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the good news is that these doses were caught before they ever hit the public. The Biden administration said for now vaccine materials will continue to come from the Netherlands and onto plants, such as the Bloomington and Grand Rapids locations. Those plants are already in charge of the final stages of the manufacturing process.

At the local level, it is not expected to make much of a dent in the rollout process. The White House said the same goes in the fight to get all American adults eligible for a vaccine by May 1. The U.S. is scheduled to receive 600 million doses of the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

On the other hand, a poll published by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the majority of people who have not gotten vaccinated would rather go the one-dose route.

That means a potential delay could mean more hesitancy among certain groups to get vaccinated. With stricter storage guidelines for Moderna and Pfizer doses, it could become difficult to reach more people.

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