A batch of 15 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines that spoiled in Baltimore last week is affecting overseas military vaccinations of service members and their families who have no other recourse but to wait, the Pentagon said Thursday.
The Defense Health Agency has administered more than 2 million vaccines to military members at 350 locations globally and has doubled up the percentage of vaccines it ships overseas with respect to the percentage of the military population represented. But by sending more of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine overseas, deployed members of the military were adversely affected when Emergent BioSolutions contaminated a large batch of doses last week and was forced to destroy them, delaying shipments and production.
“We are making up the delta, the difference between what we thought we were going to get with the Johnson & Johnson, or Janssen vaccine, with Moderna,” Defense Health Agency director Army Lt. Gen. Ron Place told the Washington Examiner at a Pentagon briefing.
“That will be the large majority of how we make it up,” he added. “Family members at over 60% of our locations have not yet been notified of their potential eligibility to be vaccinated at this point.”
AUSTIN URGES MILITARY TO TAKE COVID-19 VACCINE AS REFUSALS PERSIST
Family members who accompany service members overseas are in a difficult spot because they do not have access to the vaccine off base. That means the spoilage of Johnson & Johnson vaccines reduces the accessible supply in some parts of the world, including Europe, that are still struggling to contain the virus.
In response, the military is trying to move other FDA-approved vaccines to health clinics and still plans to meet President Joe Biden’s April 19 commitment that all adults be eligible for the vaccine.
“We’re administering the vaccine as fast as we receive it,” Place said. “We targeted the overseas community for our J&J vaccine supplies, so we’re actively exploring other means to offset this temporary shortage.”
Despite the ultra-cold storage requirements of the Pfizer vaccine, the military is distributing more of it and adding Moderna vaccines to its inventory.
DOD has continuously fought against misinformation about the vaccines, but officials from each of the services represented Thursday said they do not track the rate at which vaccines are declined.
However, Place noted the overseas service members are being vaccinated at 10% to 15% higher rates than stateside service members.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“We continue to see many individuals who were taking a wait and see approach now coming in for the vaccine,” he said.
“If you’re a service member stationed overseas or a family member likewise stationed overseas, and you haven’t received a vaccine and you don’t know when you’ll be able to, these numbers mean nothing,” he added. “It’s understandably frustrating the recent event that caused a loss of about 15 million doses.”
