New York: Johnson & Johnson informed that US regulators extended the expiration date on millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by six weeks.
Safety concerns about J&J’s shot and flagging demand for vaccinations have left close to half of the 21 million doses the company has produced for the United States sitting unused.
The health regulator’s decision was based on data from ongoing studies, which demonstrated that the vaccine is stable at 4.5 months when refrigerated at temperatures of 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 8 degrees Celsius), the drugmaker said.
Vaccination expiration dates are based on information from drugmakers on how long the shots stay at the right strength. J&J said the FDA added six weeks based on data from ongoing studies assessing the vaccine’s stability.
The J&J extension will help maintain vaccine supplies even as the number of Americans getting shots has slipped. The country averaged about 800,000 new injections per day last week.
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