Post by account_disabled on Feb 28, 2024 5:22:52 GMT -5
US April Janssen stops the arrival of its vaccine to the EU after recommending to withdraw it in the US
New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson has agreed to sell enough of its affordable, single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate a third of Africa's people. This would be produced in part by a South African manufacturer, which led to hopes that these doses would quickly reach Africans.
However, South Africa continues to expect to receive most of the 31 million vaccine doses it ordered from Johnson & Johnson, having only administered about two million.
This is one of the main reasons why less than 7% of South Africans are fully vaccinated and why the country was devastated by the Delta variant.
At the same time, Johnson & Johnson has been Changsha Mobile Number List exporting millions of doses that were bottled and packaged in South Africa for distribution in Europe, according to company executives and the South African manufacturer, Aspen Pharmacare, as well as South African government export records reviewed by The New York Times .
Vaccines made in Africa
Glenda Gray, a South African scientist who helped lead Johnson & Johnson's clinical trial in that country, said companies needed to prioritize sending doses to the poorest countries involved in their production.
It's as if a country is making food for the world and sees its food being sent to high-resource environments while its citizens starve.
Glenda Gray, South African scientist who helped lead the Johnson & Johnson clinical trial.
Many Western countries have stuck with domestically manufactured doses. That was not possible in South Africa because of an unusual stipulation in the contract the government signed this year with Johnson & Johnson. The confidential contract required South Africa to waive its right to impose restrictions on the export of vaccine doses.
Popo Maja, a spokesman for South Africa's health ministry, said the government was not satisfied with the contract requirements but had no leverage to reject them.
The government was not given any option. Sign the contract or there is no vaccine.
Popo Maja, spokesperson for the South African Ministry of Health.
Johnson & Johnson had always planned for some vaccines produced by Aspen to leave Africa, but has never disclosed how many doses it actually exported. Export records show Johnson & Johnson shipped 32 million doses in recent months, although that does not capture the total number that has left South Africa.
Germany received vaccines produced by Aspen in April, according to a spokesman for the German Health Ministry. In June and July, Spain received more than 800,000 doses, according to the country's Health Ministry.
A desolate panorama
Critics say South Africa's deficit partly reflects a power imbalance between a giant company and a desperate country.
The disproportionate amount of power that Johnson & Johnson has wielded is truly worrying. It's hurting our efforts to get supplies into the system quickly.
Fatima Hassan, human rights lawyer in South Africa.
The outlook is bleak across the continent. Although several African countries received small initial shipments of Johnson & Johnson doses last week, they are a tiny fraction of the 400 million doses the African Union has ordered or has the option to order for its member countries. About 2% of Africans are fully vaccinated.
Johnson & Johnson Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Stoffels said the Aspen plant is part of a production network in which vaccines are routinely shipped between countries for manufacturing, quality inspection and delivery.
We have done everything in our power to prioritize South Africa wherever possible.
Dr. Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer of Johnson & Johnson.
He also noted that Johnson & Johnson earlier this year provided about 500,000 doses to vaccinate South African healthcare workers. He said the Aspen plant will exclusively supply doses to African countries later this year.
Aspen is responsible for the final stage of vaccine production, a process known as “fill and finish.” The company receives massive quantities of the vaccine, bottles it into vials and then packages it for final inspections and delivery.
Some of the Aspen doses were never used because there were fears they might be contaminated at the Baltimore plant handling its first phase of production, according to Johnson & Johnson and Aspen executives. Problems at that plant, run by Emergent BioSolutions, wreaked havoc on Johnson & Johnson's vaccine supplies, leading the company to fall behind on orders around the world.
New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson has agreed to sell enough of its affordable, single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate a third of Africa's people. This would be produced in part by a South African manufacturer, which led to hopes that these doses would quickly reach Africans.
However, South Africa continues to expect to receive most of the 31 million vaccine doses it ordered from Johnson & Johnson, having only administered about two million.
This is one of the main reasons why less than 7% of South Africans are fully vaccinated and why the country was devastated by the Delta variant.
At the same time, Johnson & Johnson has been Changsha Mobile Number List exporting millions of doses that were bottled and packaged in South Africa for distribution in Europe, according to company executives and the South African manufacturer, Aspen Pharmacare, as well as South African government export records reviewed by The New York Times .
Vaccines made in Africa
Glenda Gray, a South African scientist who helped lead Johnson & Johnson's clinical trial in that country, said companies needed to prioritize sending doses to the poorest countries involved in their production.
It's as if a country is making food for the world and sees its food being sent to high-resource environments while its citizens starve.
Glenda Gray, South African scientist who helped lead the Johnson & Johnson clinical trial.
Many Western countries have stuck with domestically manufactured doses. That was not possible in South Africa because of an unusual stipulation in the contract the government signed this year with Johnson & Johnson. The confidential contract required South Africa to waive its right to impose restrictions on the export of vaccine doses.
Popo Maja, a spokesman for South Africa's health ministry, said the government was not satisfied with the contract requirements but had no leverage to reject them.
The government was not given any option. Sign the contract or there is no vaccine.
Popo Maja, spokesperson for the South African Ministry of Health.
Johnson & Johnson had always planned for some vaccines produced by Aspen to leave Africa, but has never disclosed how many doses it actually exported. Export records show Johnson & Johnson shipped 32 million doses in recent months, although that does not capture the total number that has left South Africa.
Germany received vaccines produced by Aspen in April, according to a spokesman for the German Health Ministry. In June and July, Spain received more than 800,000 doses, according to the country's Health Ministry.
A desolate panorama
Critics say South Africa's deficit partly reflects a power imbalance between a giant company and a desperate country.
The disproportionate amount of power that Johnson & Johnson has wielded is truly worrying. It's hurting our efforts to get supplies into the system quickly.
Fatima Hassan, human rights lawyer in South Africa.
The outlook is bleak across the continent. Although several African countries received small initial shipments of Johnson & Johnson doses last week, they are a tiny fraction of the 400 million doses the African Union has ordered or has the option to order for its member countries. About 2% of Africans are fully vaccinated.
Johnson & Johnson Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Stoffels said the Aspen plant is part of a production network in which vaccines are routinely shipped between countries for manufacturing, quality inspection and delivery.
We have done everything in our power to prioritize South Africa wherever possible.
Dr. Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer of Johnson & Johnson.
He also noted that Johnson & Johnson earlier this year provided about 500,000 doses to vaccinate South African healthcare workers. He said the Aspen plant will exclusively supply doses to African countries later this year.
Aspen is responsible for the final stage of vaccine production, a process known as “fill and finish.” The company receives massive quantities of the vaccine, bottles it into vials and then packages it for final inspections and delivery.
Some of the Aspen doses were never used because there were fears they might be contaminated at the Baltimore plant handling its first phase of production, according to Johnson & Johnson and Aspen executives. Problems at that plant, run by Emergent BioSolutions, wreaked havoc on Johnson & Johnson's vaccine supplies, leading the company to fall behind on orders around the world.