Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine allocations will drop by 80 percent next week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.
Why does it matter: J & J’s single-dose solution is seen as the key to US efforts to vaccinate enough Americans to achieve herd immunity as soon as possible. A spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that J&J aims to meet its goal of delivering 100 million doses by June.
By numbers: 4.9 million doses of J&J have been allocated to states, territories and federal agencies this week. Next week, that number will drop to 700,000, according to the CDC.
- It is unclear what caused the sharp drop, but federal officials have warned that the offer will fluctuate week by week, according to the WSJ.
- In the week of March 1, 2.8 million doses were distributed, while the supply in the next two weeks fell to about 400,000 to 500,000 doses per week.
The whole picture: Production challenges have affected J&J from the start, raising concerns that the company will not be able to meet its 100 million US dose targets by mid-year and up to 1 billion by the end of 2021.