The goal had been to deliver 20 million doses of J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March. But so far, only about 4.25 million have shipped.
Now, the Biden administration is facing a slew of questions over why the rollout has stalled. Citing manufacturing facility approval delays from the FDA, the White House said it is looking to ramp up shipments of the one-and-done vaccine that was approved at the end of February. But so far, officials have not set a new target number of shipments for the vaccine.
Officials are also struggling to explain why more doses of J&J’s shot have been administered. Reportedly, just over half of the shots that have been delivered have made it into the arms of waiting Americans. Part of that delay seems connected to the different ways states are handling vaccine distribution and the different populations being targeted.
Despite the challenging rollout, the Biden administration and is hopeful that July 4th will be celebrated as “independence day” from the novel coronavirus.
