WEBVTT - Why the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Rollout Has Been So Bumpy

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday March. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America. We

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<v Speaker 1>currently have three great vaccine options out there, but the

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<v Speaker 1>rollout for one seems to be a little bit bumpier

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<v Speaker 1>than the others. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is just

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<v Speaker 1>not reaching as many arms as the others are. Only

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<v Speaker 1>about half of the doses that have been distributed have

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<v Speaker 1>been administered. Some officials believe that states may be holding

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<v Speaker 1>back some shots to bank enough to reach underserved communities,

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<v Speaker 1>but some states representatives say they are using all available

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<v Speaker 1>doses as they come. Aaron Banko, healthcare reporter at Politico,

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<v Speaker 1>joins us for why the Johnson and Johnson vaccine might

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<v Speaker 1>not be reaching more people. Thanks for joining us, Aaron,

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for having me. I wanted to talk about Johnson

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<v Speaker 1>and Johnson. The vaccine right now isn't having the best rollout.

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<v Speaker 1>We've sent out millions of doses, but we're still seeing

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<v Speaker 1>large amounts of them not being administered. There's a few reasons,

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<v Speaker 1>uh that the government thing why they might not be

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<v Speaker 1>going out something Maybe states are saving some of them

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<v Speaker 1>up to help reach different populations, but the rollout, like

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<v Speaker 1>I said, has just not been going according to plan

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<v Speaker 1>just yet. Aaron, what do we know about why Johnson

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<v Speaker 1>and Johnson hasn't been more widely distributed yet? So I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's a really important question to be asking, particularly

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<v Speaker 1>because Johnson and Johnson is coming up here at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the month is supposed to be delivering sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>million more doses of its vaccine to the federal government

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<v Speaker 1>for distribution. So what we wanted to do a politico

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<v Speaker 1>is look at how the rollout has been going so

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<v Speaker 1>far in the past couple of weeks, and what we've

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<v Speaker 1>seen is that the rollout has been quite bumpy. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>the administration had warned at the beginning of the J

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<v Speaker 1>and J announcement that the rollout might not be as

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<v Speaker 1>smooth as states had hoped, particularly because the number of

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<v Speaker 1>doses that are coming off the manufacturing lines. The J

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<v Speaker 1>and J manufacturing lines are sporadic, so the federal government

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't always have a clear understanding of how many doses

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<v Speaker 1>are available for distribution to states of week. Now, some

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<v Speaker 1>senior administration officials say that they think some states are

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<v Speaker 1>holding onto those stockpiles of jan J doses until they

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<v Speaker 1>get another tranche of doses at the end of the

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<v Speaker 1>month to sort of have a more equal flow of

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<v Speaker 1>the dozing in the next couple of weeks. Other states

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<v Speaker 1>we talked to said they're not doing that. They are

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<v Speaker 1>pushing out all of the J and J doses that

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<v Speaker 1>they're getting. So it's a bit confusing right now. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not exactly clear what is going on, beyond the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that the vaccination rate around the J and J vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>is still quite low and this one should be a

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<v Speaker 1>lot easier to administer. We've heard about it it being

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<v Speaker 1>that one and done shot. It's only the one shot

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<v Speaker 1>protocol versus Fiser and madernas. You've got to get two

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<v Speaker 1>shots separated by what is it, two or three weeks apart.

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<v Speaker 1>I think the numbers that we have is that about

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<v Speaker 1>two point three million of the four point three million

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<v Speaker 1>doses that have been delivered have been actually administered so far.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what we're looking at right now. But one of

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<v Speaker 1>the things you kind of mentioned it is the reporting

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<v Speaker 1>is tough to keep track of all the states do

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<v Speaker 1>it differently. And then beyond that, states are allocated shots,

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<v Speaker 1>but then individual pharmacies can be allocated different things, so

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<v Speaker 1>it's hard to keep track of it all too. The

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<v Speaker 1>thing we know about the way that the federal government

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<v Speaker 1>tracks well, really all of its COVID nine team data,

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<v Speaker 1>but particularly the vaccine, is that there's quite a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of a reporting lag from jurisdictions up to the state

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<v Speaker 1>level and then from the state level to the federal

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<v Speaker 1>government about how many doses have been administered. But some

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<v Speaker 1>of the senior officials we talked to said they didn't

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<v Speaker 1>think the reporting lag for the j M J vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>on the CDC's vaccine track or web page was that delayed.

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<v Speaker 1>So what we're finding is that the administration is also

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<v Speaker 1>sort of struggling to understand what's going on across the country.

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<v Speaker 1>What we do know is that the j M J

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine has been administered quite efficiently through the federal retail

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<v Speaker 1>pharmacy program, so your local CBS that you can walk

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<v Speaker 1>down the street and grab a j M J vaccine.

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<v Speaker 1>That's been going really well. And so a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>the pharmacies that we've spoken to who existed in that

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<v Speaker 1>program say they're completely out of the j J vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>and they don't know when they're getting more. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the things I was always curious about two

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<v Speaker 1>is when the Johnson and Johnson vaccine came on board,

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<v Speaker 1>the efficacy rate was not as high as Maderna or Fightser,

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<v Speaker 1>So I was curious if there would be some hesitancy

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<v Speaker 1>of people maybe refusing it, waiting out for some of

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<v Speaker 1>the other ones. You know, you mentioned how states are

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<v Speaker 1>approaching this. West Virginia was initially using that J and

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<v Speaker 1>J vaccine to inoculate homeless people in Homebown because you

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<v Speaker 1>didn't have to wait for those follow ups. But do

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<v Speaker 1>we know anything about that, you know, maybe people's perception

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<v Speaker 1>of the J and J vaccine. All we know is

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<v Speaker 1>what we're hearing anecdotally. So I think at the very

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<v Speaker 1>beginning of the J and J rollout, there was a

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<v Speaker 1>fear among senior administration officials that Americans would be hesitant

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<v Speaker 1>to sign up for the J and J vaccine because

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<v Speaker 1>of the raw data that existed about its efficacy. But

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<v Speaker 1>what they found and have been finding over time, is

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<v Speaker 1>that people really like the Jane J vaccine because it's

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<v Speaker 1>a one and done situation. You know, there is some

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<v Speaker 1>concern that portions of the country are not signing up

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<v Speaker 1>for the shot because of that efficacy rate. But that's

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<v Speaker 1>not proven by any stretch of the imagination. I think

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<v Speaker 1>for the most part, people who we've spoken to on

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<v Speaker 1>the ground seem to have really enjoyed the J and

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<v Speaker 1>J process and like that they're sort of immune in

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<v Speaker 1>a one shot dose definitely, And you know, for those

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<v Speaker 1>that are are not as high risk as others, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>let's say you're young and healthy, Johnson and Johnson vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>is probably maybe the best choice one and done. You're

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<v Speaker 1>still going to get protection. You're younger and healthy, so

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<v Speaker 1>you won't be getting COVID in the most severe forms anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>So that might be the best option, whereas more high

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<v Speaker 1>risk people, you know, might want to make that extra

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<v Speaker 1>effort to get fiser or maderna. So what can we

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<v Speaker 1>expect You mentioned where that states are going to get

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<v Speaker 1>another big push, another big delivery of more J and

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<v Speaker 1>J vaccines. What are we going to be expecting when

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<v Speaker 1>we see that. So that's actually, according to some of

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<v Speaker 1>the new reporting we got today, is a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>up in the air. We do know that states should

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<v Speaker 1>be alerted by the federal government tomorrow or the next

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<v Speaker 1>day about a new set of doses which will be

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<v Speaker 1>released to states to order against next week. We just

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<v Speaker 1>don't know how big of a pot that is. We

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<v Speaker 1>don't know how many doses are going to be included

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<v Speaker 1>in that ranche. So again, like I mentioned earlier, we're

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<v Speaker 1>really waiting on the pharmaceutical company to deliver that promise

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen million doses by the end of the month for

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<v Speaker 1>distribution hopefully at the beginning of April. And then of

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<v Speaker 1>course they have other targets to meet later down the line,

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred million by June, hopefully by the end of May.

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<v Speaker 1>So States can expect to receive some additional J and

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<v Speaker 1>J doses of the next couple of weeks, but I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think they are going to be getting that many. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>hopefully we can increase the rollout of this and just

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<v Speaker 1>get as many shots into arms as possible. Aaron Bankoh,

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<v Speaker 1>healthcare reporter at Politico, thank you very much for joining us.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for having me. I'm Screw Ramirez and this has

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<v Speaker 1>been reopening America. Don't forget effort today's big news stories.

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<v Speaker 1>You can check me out on the Daily Dive podcast

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<v Speaker 1>every Monday through Fridays, so follow us an I Heart

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