“The last thing we wanted to hear about was that we were getting fewer vaccines,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, told reporters on Friday. “We were hoping to start up as they promised.”
In a statement, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, said, “We won’t be able to get as many shots into the arms of New Yorkers as we’d like”. He added, “As has been the case since our vaccination efforts began, the X-Factor is care, care, care.”
Some state health officials had hoped to use Johnson & Johnson’s unique, easy-to-store vaccine to target college students and other temporary groups. Others offered it at mass vaccination sites or directed it to rural areas.
Instead, Johnson & Johnson can shipments across the states will drop sharply next week: California will drop from 572,700 to 67,600 cans, Texas from 392,100 to 46,300, Florida from 313,200 to 37,000, and Virginia from 253,400 to 27,900.
In Virginia, which will expand vaccine coverage to the entire adult population in nine days, the effect will be “tremendous,” said Dr. Danny Avula, the state vaccination coordinator. He said officials should warn people that appointments could be difficult to come by, even though they would be allowed to register for recordings.
