Johnson & Johnson has temporarily stopped the production of its COVID-19 vaccine at a Dutch plant.
The pharmaceutical company announced on February 8 that the plant will temporarily cease operations on its COVID-19 vaccine in order to begin production on another vaccine for an unrelated virus. The announcement, reported by The New York Times, comes as global vaccine distribution has slowed down, worrying organizations like COVAX that the halt in production will make it worse.
"We strive to improve human health and have worked tirelessly to forge partnerships and build a global manufacturing network across four continents to produce our COVID-19 vaccine," wrote the company in a statement. "Our manufacturing sites produce multiple products as we have an obligation to supply life changing medicines to patients around the world and bring forward our innovative pipeline of new medicines and vaccines. We manage our production planning accordingly and are currently supplying from our extensive global network based on the demand for our vaccine and the needs of our patients and customers."
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been embroiled in controversy ever since its creation. Conflicting reports of its effectiveness, as well as potential side effects not recorded in Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines, have lowered the popularity of the one-shot vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have previously said that they recommended receiving the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines over the Johnson & Johnson dosage. Newsweek previously reported that the CDC recorded 54 cases of blood clotting in patients that took the Johnson & Johnson vaccination in December. However, health officials urged calm in those who have already received the vaccine, saying that the side effects might have already shown up if they were affected.
"If you have had the J&J vaccine recently, and experience unusual symptoms, check with a healthcare professional," Dr. Alexander Edwards of the University of Reading told Newsweek in December. "The adverse events typically happen within 1-2 weeks of the vaccine so if you had the vaccine a while ago, you'll be protected from harm from COVID-19 and there is no long-term risk."
However, the shot was among the most widely distributed worldwide through programs such as COVAX and the African Union. According to the Times, the organizations only learned about the supposed production halt when the reporters told them about it.
"This is not the time to be switching production lines of anything, when the lives of people across the developing world hang in the balance," said African Union vaccine distribution co-head Dr. Ayoade Alakija to the Times.
COVAX also finds the alleged halt in vaccinations to be a detriment. While speaking to the Times, Dr. Seth Berkley said that the organization, which helps send vaccines to poorer countries around the world, already let them down in 2021 and that they can't do that again in 2022.
"We really needed their doses in 2021, and we were counting on them," said Dr. Berkeley. "They didn't deliver. So we had to find other doses to meet the countries' needs."
Johnson & Johnson has attempted to quell these fears in the midst of the production halt.
"We are focused on ensuring our vaccine is available where people are in need, and we continue to fulfill our contractual obligations in relation to the COVAX Facility and the African Union," said the company in their statement. "We currently have millions of doses of our COVID-19 vaccine in inventory."
Update 2/8/22 at 1:10 P.M.: This story has been updated with the official statement from Johnson & Johnson, along with more information on the reported effectiveness and side effects of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and reactions from Dr. Seth Berkley.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
