White House says Johnson & Johnson pause won't affect federal vaccination plan

The White House does not appear to be concerned about whether the Food and Drug Administration's recommendation to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may hinder its distribution strategy.

Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said in a statement Tuesday that because the Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes up only a small percentage of the recorded shots in the U.S., the federal plan should remain intact without any major hiccups. "Over the last few weeks, we have made available more than 25 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna [vaccines] each week ... This is more than enough supply to continue the current pace of 3 million shots per day, and meet [President Biden's] goal of 200 million shots by his 100th day in office," the statement said.

Johnson & Johnson appointments scheduled for the next several days have already been canceled, but Zients said the Biden administration is working with state and federal partners to reschedule those for a dose of Pfizer or Moderna.

While the math may hold up for the White House's goals, there are still other factors to consider, including whether the FDA's decision leads to any noticeable increase in vaccine hesitancy, regardless of which shots are available.

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