Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows 2.6 million vaccine doses reported administered across the U.S. Tuesday, bringing the daily average of shots given over the past week to a fresh high of 3.4 million.
U.S. officials say the Food and Drug Administration’s recommended pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will not slow down the vaccination campaign.
Jeff Zients, the White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator, told reporters Tuesday that the Johnson & Johnson announcement “will not have a significant impact on our vaccination program.”
“The president has always said that this is a wartime effort, and as such we’ve mobilized a wartime effort so that we’re prepared for a wide range of scenarios” Zients said. “We have more than enough supply of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to continue the current pace of about 3 million shots per day.”
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes up 7.2 million of the total doses administered to Americans thus far, compared to 99.5 million doses of Pfizer and 85.4 million doses of Moderna. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is responsible for 9.5% of the roughly 75 million Americans who are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
