Utah health officials: Next week’s distribution of J&J vaccine unaffected by factory mix-up
Apr 1, 2021, 4:22 PM
FILE - This Dec. 2, 2020 photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows vials of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. (Johnson & Johnson via AP)
(Johnson & Johnson via AP)
SALT LAKE CITY — After a factory mix-up in Baltimore that contaminated up to 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine, Utah health officials say it may slow down its distribution. However, it won’t affect next week’s shipment of the J&J vaccine — which officials say is the same mix-up that caused a major delay in production.
The state will receive about 40,700 doses of the J&J vaccine to begin distributing for the week of April 5. Beyond that, health officials are still unsure how the state’s rollout timeline will be affected.
“We don’t know right now,” said Rich Lakin, immunization director for the Utah Department of Health. “[The CDC] is supposed to let us know more information about how this is going to affect, not next week’s delivery, but the week after. It could affect it, or it could not. We do not know at this point.”
Utah distribution of J&J vaccine unaffected for next week
The delay may pose a challenge for the rural areas of Utah, which are more likely to rely on the J&J vaccine because it only requires one dose and doesn’t need special storage. However, Lakin said the state will prioritize equity depending on how many doses are available.
“We’ll try to get those doses in a really equitable way to ensure that we don’t have impacts,” he said. “We’ll try to make it equitable across all fronts in Utah.”
The state will submit its order Thursday evening, ensuring doses will be ready for distribution on Monday.
