Millions of Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine Doses get 6 Week Expiration Date Extension

Millions of Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine Doses get 6 Week Expiration Date Extension

Johnson & Johnson received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to extend the expiration date for millions of doses of the company's COVID-19 vaccine for an additional six weeks, after state officials warned many unused doses would meet the three-month expiration period by the end of June.

Vaccination expiration dates are determined by the FDA through data submitted from the manufacturers on how long the shots maintain their correct potency. New samples from J&J and other manufacturers have led to re-examination into the doses' shelf life.

The extended expiration comes after a decrease in the number of doses of vaccines administered daily in the U.S. Last week, the U.S. averaged around 800,000 new injections per day, which is down from a high of nearly 2 million a day two months ago, the Associated Press reported.