A Johnson & Johnson spokesman declined to confirm the delay, but said the company is “confident in our ability to meet our 2021 supply commitments.”
“We remain active in discussions with regulators, including on the approval and validation of our manufacturing processes,” the spokesman said.
“Operation Warp Speed is working with Johnson & Johnson to scale up and maximize the production of the Janssen vaccine,” a HHS spokesman said. “Making projections at the moment is premature.”
Warp Speed co-director Moncef Slaoui on Monday referred to the slowdown in production and told reporters that the company was on track for a single digit million dose by the second half of February. The company will have a much larger number by April, he added.
The New York Times first reported that production delays had occurred.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is considered critical to accelerate the country’s efforts to end the pandemic, especially as it requires only a single dose. The shots also do not need to be stored at temperatures below zero that require special freezers.
In contrast, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines currently being distributed require two separate doses, complicating vaccination logistics for health departments and providers who need to get patients back for their second admission.
But the Johnson & Johnson shot also uses an older approach that incorporates the coronavirus’ genetic information into a common virus, while Pfizer and Moderna use a new technology that uses messenger RNA to send instructions to the cells. While the mRNA approach before the products has not been proven, vaccine experts say it is easy to scale quickly.