15 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses ruined in lab mix-up; most Americans 65 and older fully vaccinated: Live COVID updates
About 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine have been lost after a mix-up at a Baltimore manufacturing plant.
A vaccine ingredient made by Emergent BioSolutions – one of about 10 companies that Johnson & Johnson is using to speed up manufacturing of its recently approved vaccine – did not meet quality standards, J&J said. J&J didn’t say how many doses were lost, and it wasn’t clear how the problem would impact future deliveries.
The New York Times reported that 15 million doses were involved.
Johnson & Johnson identified the spoiled batch of doses through its quality control process, the company said in a statement on its website. The site is "not yet authorized to manufacture drug substance for our COVID-19 vaccine," and added: "This batch was never advanced to the filling and finishing stages of our manufacturing process."
In its statement, Johnson & Johnson said it remained on track to deliver "an additional 24 million single-shot vaccine doses through April."
Also in the news:
►Michigan, where COVID-19 is surging more than in any state, on Thursday reported its first confirmed case of a coronavirus variant that was initially identified in Brazil.
►Rhode Island’s top health official, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, urged residents Thursday to be careful if attending Easter and Passover services and gatherings this weekend as the state has experienced spikes in new coronavirus cases soon after other major holidays in the past year.
►California Gov. Gavin Newsom received his “one and done” Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine Thursday, as people 50 and older became eligible for inoculations in the most populous state in the country.
►European nations’ immunization campaigns against COVID-19 are “unacceptably slow” and risk prolonging the pandemic, Dr. Hans Kluge, a senior World Health Organization official, said Thursday. He said that to date, only 10% of Europe’s population has received one dose and that only 4% have been fully protected with two doses.
►Japan designated Osaka and two other prefectures for new virus control steps as infections in those areas rise less than four months before the Tokyo Olympics.
►Ninety percent of Gibraltar's 35,000 residents have received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The British Overseas Territory on Spain's south coast is thriving thanks to the United Kingdom's vaccine roll out, the most advanced in Europe.
►Hawaii is considering vaccine passports, especially for inter-island travel. Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green said the state hopes to work with a local company to create an app that would verify that a traveler has been vaccinated, KHON-TV reported.
►Most Americans 65 and older are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has over 30.46 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 552,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 129 million cases and 2.81 million deaths. More than 195.58 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 150.2 million have been administered, according to the CDC.
📘 What we're reading: COVID-19 accounted for about 11% of all American deaths last year – right behind heart disease and cancer – and the vast majority of patients who died of the virus already had health problems before they were infected.
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Major League Baseball's opening day marred by postponement
Major League Baseball's opening day was waylaid by the postponement of the nationally televised Washington Nationals-New York Mets opener because of COVID-19 issues with the Nationals. The team was dealt a blow when it learned a player tested positive, resulting in four more players and a staff member isolated for the opener after contact tracing.
"They did some additional testing and without getting into the details, it became clear that the safest course for both teams was to take advantage of the off day tomorrow," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in an ESPN interview.
– Gabe Lacques
In Florida, no wait for vaccine at some country clubs
When Florida threw open the door for seniors to get COVID-19 vaccines, hundreds camped out overnight in the January cold and thousands more waited in digital lines for their number to come up in county-run vaccine pools. Meanwhile, pop-up clinics offering exclusive vaccine access sprouted at country clubs and golf course communities. A pair of yacht clubs in Martin County and the Florida Keys even secured special vaccine access. Beyond political favoritism concerns, the pop-up clinics raise questions about how state and local officials made decisions about where to dole out the vaccine.
“It just smacks of favoritism,” said Ross Edlund, 69, who drove nearly two hours to Miami to get the shot while his neighbors at an upscale community received their own private vaccine pop-up clinic. Read more here.
Vaccinated parents likely can party without bringing virus home to kids
As the trials in children and teens progress, millions of parents in the USA who are getting vaccinated are unsure how to navigate a post-vaccine world where they're protected but their kids can get sick and spread the virus. A CDC study released Monday suggests it is unlikely parents would bring home the virus to their kids. Another national study is underway to determine whether the virus spreads among vaccinated college students.
"It seems likely that a vaccinated individual would be much less likely to transmit the virus to someone else," said Richard Malley, a physician in the division of infectious diseases at Boston Children’s Hospital. "A parent who is hanging out with others would not be very likely to come home and transmit the virus to their children."
– Adrianna Rodriguez
Pfizer vaccine, effective against South Africa variant, closer to full approval
Six months after getting a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as part of a 46,000-person clinical trial, volunteers remained more than 90% protected against symptomatic COVID-19 and even better protected against severe disease, a new company study found. The study also showed that the vaccine is effective against a virus variant called B.1.351, first identified in South Africa. The new data is likely sufficient for the vaccine to meet the criteria set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for full approval. The vaccine is currently authorized for emergency use.
– Karen Weintraub
FDA authorizes two rapid COVID-19 tests for home screening
Consumers will soon be able to buy rapid COVID-19 tests at chain pharmacies and grocers without a prescription after the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized two home tests.
The Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 self-test will include two tests per kit for serial screening, with the no-prescription test delivering results in 15 minutes that does not require a lab. The FDA also authorized the Quidel QuickVue COVID test that delivers results in 10 minutes and can be used without a prescription.
The FDA has authorized more than 300 COVID-19 tests and technologies in what's becoming an increasingly crowded field of medical labs and tech firms touting different technologies.
By greenlighting the Abbott and Quidel tests that can be purchased by consumers without a prescription, the federal agency is significantly expanding access to testing for Americans. The authorization comes two weeks after the agency announced a streamlined path for serial testing to screen people without symptoms.
- Ken Alltucker
Contributing: The Associated Press