The Reason J and J Shut Production Of Its Single Dose Covid Vaccine

The primary customers for the J&J vaccine were developing nations because the single dose made it cheaper as well as easier to store and transport. Most wealthy nations including the US prefer shots from Moderna and Pfizer. 

Given the economics, J&J has switched the Netherlands plant over to making a new, more profitable drug. JL

Megan Cerullo reports in CBS:

The company shut down production at a plant in the Netherlands, which was the only facility where doses of the vaccine were manufactured, catching customers off guard that prefer the single-dose J&J drug. Johnson & Johnson has instead been using the plant to work on an experimental and potentially more profitable drug that could protect against an unrelated respiratory virus. Given that only one dose of the J&J vaccine is required, it's less expensive than its double-dose counterparts and also easier to deliver, making it popular in lower-income countries. Wealthier nations have favored Moderna and Pfizer.

Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson has halted production of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.

The pharmaceutical company last year quietly shut down production at a plant in Leiden, Netherlands, which was the only facility where usable doses of the vaccine were manufactured, catching some of its customers off guard, including developing nations that prefer the single-dose J&J drug over two-dose alternatives, the report states. 

Johnson & Johnson has instead been using the plant to work on an experimental and potentially more profitable drug that could protect against an unrelated respiratory virus, according to the report. 

The plant is expected to resume manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine, but it is unclear when. 

J&J did not comment on the plant closure reports, but said in a statement to CBS News "we currently have millions of doses of our COVID-19 vaccine in inventory" and "we continue to fulfill our contractual obligations ... [to] the African Union." 

Vaccine of choice for poorer countries

The J&J vaccine, called the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, made by Janssen Biotech, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, is the vaccine of choice for poorer countries that are depending on the drugmaker to help them fight the pandemic. 

Wealthier nations like the U.S. have favored shots from Moderna and Pfizer, because the two appear to be more effective against COVID-19 variants like Omicron, and because the Janssen vaccine has, in the past, been linked to rare but potentially life-threatening blood clots. 

Given that only one dose of the J&J vaccine is required, though, it's less expensive than its double-dose counterparts and also easier to deliver, making it popular in lower-income countries.