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 J&J’s vaccine was supposed to be an important tool for reaching
rural areas and vaccine hesitant Americans because it requires only
one shot and has less stringent storage requirements than the
two-dose vaccines from Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc.
But Americans have largely eschewed it over the six weeks it has
been back in use after a pause to study a rare safety issue,
according to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) and interviews with health officials and
pharmacists in eight states across the country.
"We went from having a waiting list to give somebody a shot to
having maybe one shot a day or four shots a day," Michelle Vargas,
owner of independent Lamar Family Pharmacy in Lamar, South Carolina,
said of plunging demand for the J&J shot in the small rural
community. "They're concerned for their safety. I think that's the
biggest hurdle right now."
In the week ended May 25, fewer than 650,000 Americans received the
J&J shot, accounting for about 5% of total vaccinations administered
and down from nearly 3 million in the week leading up to the pause,
CDC data shows.
Demand for all the vaccines has slowed since mid-April, but the drop
has been significantly steeper for the J&J shot.
Graphic: U.S. vaccinations by manufacturer
https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-JOHNSONJOHNSON/
jbyprgqbgve/chart.png
The slowdown may mean some J&J doses will expire unused at a time
when global demand for any COVID-19 vaccine is high. J&J doses will
be among the 25 million donated by the United States announced by
the White House last Thursday.
At least 13 lots of the vaccine have expiration dates of June 27 or
earlier, according to a J&J website. It is not clear how many doses
that reflects, but the vaccine has a 3-month shelf life and most
doses were sent out by early April, including 11 million in the
first week. J&J has another 100 million doses on hand but shipment
timing is uncertain.
A J&J spokesperson declined to comment on the number of doses
expiring before the end of June.
J&J is working with the U.S. government and health authorities to
support use of its vaccine, the spokesperson said in a statement,
calling it an important tool in the global fight against COVID-19.
"We remain committed to helping end this deadly pandemic as quickly
as possible," J&J said.
'LET'S JUST STICK WITH PFIZER AND MODERNA'
The CDC and Food and Drug Administration paused use of the J&J
vaccine for nearly two weeks in mid-April to investigate links to
cases of a very rare, potentially life-threatening condition called
thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which involves
blood clots and low platelet counts.
[to top of second column] |
 Regulators decided that the
vaccine's benefits outweigh the risk. The
condition has also been linked to AstraZeneca's
COVID-19 vaccine.
David Kohll, pharmacist at Kohll's Pharmacy with
six locations in Nebraska, said before the
safety issue, several companies arranged for him
to provide J&J vaccines to employees.
"Some of them are trucking companies and some others with more
blue-collar or hard-to-get-to employees. They wanted us to go with
all J&J," Kohll said. After the safety pause, "probably 80 percent
of them said 'Let's just stick with Pfizer and Moderna.'"
Public health officials said during the pause they found the Pfizer
and Moderna vaccines were adequate substitutes in the mobile and
walk-up clinics where they had been using J&J.
"Once we get them in for the first dose, we've got them and they
will come back for the second dose," said Dr. Karen Landers, a
public health official in Alabama.
Use of J&J's shot has fallen in states like Wyoming and Alabama with
low vaccine uptake and in places like Maine and Oregon, where
vaccination rates are high, according to state and CDC data.
Not everyone has seen a sharp drop-off in demand for the J&J
vaccine. Richard Stryker, who runs the Bayshore Pharmacy in Atlantic
Highlands, N.J., said he has seen plenty of interest, particularly
from seniors who are at lower risk for the clotting issue and prefer
the single injection.
J&J has said it is not currently selling the vaccine for a profit.
The lower demand this year is immaterial to its financials, SVB
Leerink analyst Danielle Antalffy said at the time of the safety
pause.
But competitors Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna could benefit as
developed countries sign future deals for booster shots. Pfizer and
BioNTech's EU deal alone could be worth at least $16 billion - as
much as double that if all options are exercised - for the companies
through 2023, based on current prices.
Rollout of the J&J shot has had other stumbles as well. Regulators
shut down production at the largest U.S. plant making the vaccine
due to cross-contamination at the site with the AstraZeneca shot. No
new doses have been distributed in the United States since mid-May.
U.S. regulators are deciding whether it is safe to release up to 100
million doses of J&J's vaccine produced at that plant. The dwindling
U.S. demand could provide additional flexibility to donate millions
of doses.
(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill
Berkrot)
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