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Johnson & Johnson takes "full responsibility" of COVID vaccine output at Baltimore plant

04 April 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Johnson & Johnson announced late Saturday that it's "assuming full responsibility" for manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine at a Baltimore plant where 15 million doses were ruined last week.

Of note: AstraZeneca said Saturday night it is in "full cooperation with the U.S. government" to move production from the facility, run by Emergent BioSolutions, which been producing both vaccines.

Why it matters: The Biden administration took the "extraordinary" step of intervening as officials were "worried" the error would "erode public confidence in the vaccines," notes the New York Times, which first reported the news Saturday.

Driving the news: J&J said in a statement that it's "adding dedicated leaders for operations and quality, and significantly increasing the number of manufacturing, quality and technical operations personnel to work with the company specialists already at Emergent."

  • Bloomberg reports that J&J is conducting the operation "with help from the Biden administration."
  • AstraZeneca said in a statement Saturday night it "will work with the U.S. Government to identify an alternative location."

For the record: The plant has yet to receive authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for either vaccine and the error is unlikely to impact the U.S. government's accelerating vaccine rollout.

  • President Biden is stepping up plans to enable every American adult can be eligible to receive a dose by May, but the mix-up underscores how manufacturing issues "could complicate the rollout," per Bloomberg.

What to watch: J&J said in its statement it "expects to deliver nearly 100 million single-shot doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. Government by the end of May."

What they're saying: Emergent spokesperson Nina DeLorenzo told the Washington Post Saturday that the company had been told of AstraZeneca's relocation plans and would stop manufacturing the vaccine in "the next few days."

  • "We are welcoming additional Johnson & Johnson personnel on-site at Bayview for their technical expertise and support," DeLorenzo added.
  • Representatives for Emergent and the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.