Shipments of Johnson & Johnson vaccine halted

Future shipments of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine have been halted while the Food and Drug Administration investigates, after human error at a manufacturing plant ruined 15 million doses, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The plant in Baltimore is run by Emergent Biosolutions, and workers mixed up the ingredients in the vaccine, the Times reported.

The error does not affect doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that have already been distributed, since those were made in the Netherlands, but it impacts future shipments of the vaccine, according to the Times.


The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one of three being used in the United States.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were already the bulk of the U.S. supply, and those are proceeding as planned. But the error could limit the ability of Johnson & Johnson to add considerably to the U.S. supply in the coming weeks.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the only one of the three that only requires one shot to be effective. The other two require two shots spaced apart.