Germany and South Africa demand action over spoiled Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccines

Countries want millions of doses replaced after contamination concerns

People arriving to receive the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in Berlin, Germany. Getty

Germany and South Africa are calling for replacement Covid-19 vaccines after the US Food and Drug Administration ordered Johnson & Johnson to dispose of millions of doses over contamination concerns.
Germany wants the drug manufacturer to replace 6.5 million doses while South Africa is disposing of 2 million of the same vaccines.

The FDA said it had authorised two batches of the vaccine for use but that several other batches were not suitable and others were being evaluated.
"This is regrettable because each dose counts," a German Health Ministry spokesman said. "We therefore expect from J&J that this amount is delivered in July as quickly as possible."
J&J was due to deliver 10.1 million doses of its one-shot Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the second quarter, the ministry said.

The spokesman said Germany would receive 50.3 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine in the second quarter, while Moderna would ship 6.4 million and AstraZeneca 12.4 million during the same period.

Sources told Reuters that 60 million J&J doses were ordered to be discarded, while the FDA cleared 10 million for use.

"We reviewed the data provided by the FDA and made a decision not to release vaccines produced using the drug substance batches that were not suitable,” the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority said.

The decision affects two million vaccines that were awaiting release at a manufacturing site, acting health minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said.
South Africa ordered 31 million doses of the J&J vaccine to help inoculate its population of 59 million.
It secured 30 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses but that medicine must be stored at extremely low temperatures and requires two shots.
South Africa is one of the countries campaigning for a waiver of patents on Covid-19 vaccines so every nation can produce generic versions at low cost.
"If we are to save lives and end the pandemic, we need to expand and diversify manufacturing and get medical products to treat, combat and prevent the pandemic to as many people as quickly as possible," President Cyril Ramaphosa told the G7 meeting on Sunday.