US deliveries of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to plummet 80 percent next week

Deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in the US are set to plummet by more than 80 percent next week — as the manufacturer struggles with a production problem, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC’s website indicates that more than 4.9 million doses of J&J’s vaccine were allocated within the US last week — but next week, only 700,000 doses will be provided.  Federal officials have cautioned states that there could be fluctuations in available vaccine supply, but it isn’t clear why next week’s supply, specifically, is seeing such a sharp decrease in availability, according to The Wall Street Journal.