Factory Mix-Up Ruins Up to 15 Million Vaccine Doses From Johnson & Johnson

This article originally feteared in The New York Times, by By Sharon LaFraiere and Noah Weiland.

“A manufacturing subcontractor in Baltimore mixed ingredients from the coronavirus vaccines of Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, setting back U.S. production of the “one-and-done” shot”.

“WASHINGTON — Workers at a plant in Baltimore manufacturing two coronavirus vaccines accidentally conflated the ingredients several weeks ago, contaminating up to 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and forcing regulators to delay authorization of the plant’s production lines.The plant is run by Emergent BioSolutions, a manufacturing partner to both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish company whose vaccine has yet to be authorized for use in the United States. Federal officials attributed the mistake to human error”.

“The problems arose in a new plant that the federal government enlisted last year to produce vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. The two vaccines use the same technology employing a harmless version of a virus — known as a vector — that is transmitted into cells to make a protein that then stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies. But Johnson and Johnson’s and AstraZeneca’s vectors are biologically different and not interchangeable.In late February, one or more workers somehow confused the two during the production process, raising questions about training and supervision. In the past year, Emergent has hired and trained hundreds of new workers to produce millions of doses of both vaccines that were supposed to be ready by the time clinical trials showed whether the vaccines actually worked”.

CBS News: FDA restricts Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine due to blood clot risk – https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-fda-funded-in-part-by-the-companies-it-regulates-160444

The Conversation: Why is the FDA funded in part by the companies it regulates? – https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-fda-funded-in-part-by-the-companies-it-regulates-160444

The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/international/