It’s coming! Johnson & Johnson vaccine rollout begins with around 4 million doses

Now that the Food and Drug Administration and CDC has authorized it, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is on trucks that are rolling, with 3.9 million doses coming this week.

“We think, literally, within the next 24 to 48 hours, Americans should start receiving shots in arms,” Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said on NBC’s “Today” on Monday. “They’re literally rolling out with the trucks as we speak.”

But, supply is limited to start: The addition of a third authorized vaccine adds to the doses in the U.S. arsenal, but supplies of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine will be limited at first. The 3.9 million doses shipping this week is the entire stockpile, and there will be no additional shipments next week, administration officials said. Governors have been informed about the “uneven” distribution and are expecting most of the vaccine to be delivered in the back end of the month.

The company expects to ramp up somewhat by the end of March, with 20 million total doses by that point and 100 million by the end of June. Johnson & Johnson initially promised 10 million doses by the end of February, but struggled with manufacturing issues.

Money talks:  The U.S. paid more than $1 billion to aid in the manufacturing and delivery of J&J’s vaccine. Nearly a year ago, the company also won $465 million in federal funding for vaccine research and development, bringing its U.S. funding total on the project to almost $1.5 billion.