White House: 11M Johnson & Johnson doses coming next week

The White House said Friday that Johnson & Johnson will deliver at least 11 million doses next week, a significant increase to hit the company’s target of 20 million total doses delivered to the U.S. by the end of March.

Whether the company would be able to meet the 20 million-dose target was uncertain, as Johnson & Johnson experienced uneven manufacturing.

But White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Friday the company is poised to meet the goal. 

“The company has said they’ll deliver the 20 million by the end of March,” Zients said during a press briefing. “And from our conversations with the company they appear on track to meet that goal with at least 11 million doses delivered next week.”

The White House has been working with the company to try to increase its manufacturing. There was a relatively small number of doses, 4 million, available when the vaccine was first authorized at the end of February.

Supply was also lacking at the beginning of March, but the company has now significantly ramped up its production. 

“We’ve done a lot to help J&J,” Zients said. “We’re monitoring that very closely.”

Pfizer and Moderna, which have had steadier manufacturing processes, are also on track to meet their goals for the end of March, Zients said. Pfizer had previously set a goal of 120 million total doses by the end of March, with 100 million for Moderna.

President Biden on Thursday increased his target to administer 200 million shots in his first 100 days, and the country is averaging around 2.5 million shots per day, a solid pace.

About half of the states will have opened eligibility to all adults by mid-April, Zients said. Biden has set a goal of all states opening eligibility to all adults by May 1.