Factory mix-up spoils 15 million doses of J&J COVID vaccine

Enlarge / A sign at the Johnson & Johnson campus on August 26, 2019 in Irvine, California. (credit: Getty | Mario Tama)

About 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine were ruined, and future vaccine shipments will be delayed. This all follows a mix-up at a manufacturing facility in Baltimore, according to multiple media reports.

Johnson & Johnson had partnered with Emergent BioSolutions to manufacture the active ingredient of its vaccine. But according to two US officials who spoke with Politico, workers at the West Baltimore facility mixed up the ingredients in Johnson &Johnson's vaccine with those for a different coronavirus vaccine. Emergent BioSolutions is also a manufacturing partner of AstraZeneca, according to The New York Times, which first reported the problem.

The mishap with Johnson & Johnson's vaccine began before the Food and Drug Administration had authorized the facility to produce the vaccine. Now, that authorization has been delayed, and shipments are stalled.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments