US govt moves AstraZeneca out of vaccine plant that suffered contamination

The federal government has moved to stop any further risk of contamination at a Baltimore contract vaccine manufacturer where 15 million potential doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were spoiled last month.

The Emergent BioSolutions plant in Baltimore was making coronavirus vaccines under contract to both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, according to a CNN report.

"The Emergent BioSolutions plant, which had been making doses of both Johnson & Johnson's vaccine as well as a vaccine made for AstraZeneca, will now only produce J&J vaccines," the official said.

Now, the J&J will only operate at the Emergent BioSolutions plant as the federal government has directed Johnson & Johnson to fully take over its vaccine production at the plant, an administration official told CNN.

As per the reports, the Health and Human Services Department has directed that the AstraZeneca vaccine will now be produced at another plant and the company has confirmed that it would stop manufacturing its vaccine, called AZD1222, at the Emergent Baltimore plant.

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson had successfully produced 115 million other doses of its vaccine at the Emergent plant.

As many as 30,672,830 people have detected positive for the COVID-19. The death toll in the country stands at 554,779, according to Johns Hopkins University.

( With inputs from ANI )