
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CBS This Morning on Thursday the loss of 15 million doses of Johnson and Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine due to human error is "really quit unfortunate."
“The good news about this, despite the fact that it’s really quite unfortunate that about 15 million doses now are not going to be able to be used, but you do have checks and balances, and you see that,” Fauci said. "That’s the reason why the good news is that it did get picked up."
The New York Times reported Wednesday that workers at Emergent, the Baltimore plant that has been making Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, accidentally mixed up some of the ingredients, ruining as many as 15 million potential doses of vaccine and delaying US Food and Drug Administration authorization of the plant.
Johnson & Johnson Wednesday said that it had found a quality problem at the plant, which was identified.
“Obviously, you don’t like to see anything like this happening, but you’re right, Gayle, it was human error,” Fauci told CBS’s Gayle King.
The US Food and Drug Administration is investigating, Fauci said, adding that the plant has not yet been fully certified by the agency.
“People should realize that all the doses that have been distributed to us and have been administered did not come from that plant,” Fauci said. “So, this is not related in any way to any of the J&J doses that people have already gotten. And what’s going on there now, as I mentioned, is being thoroughly investigated by the FDA.”