8,000 Unexpected Doses Of Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine Coming To Massachusetts This Week

BOSTON (CBS) – Massachusetts is getting 170,000 first doses of COVID vaccines this week and it includes 8,000 unexpected doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

A spokesperson for the state’s COVID Command Center told WBZ-TV Tuesday they weren’t expecting the extra Johnson & Johnson shots because the federal government said the next state allocation would come at the end of March.

The spokesperson called it a “modest increase.”

The 170,000 doses does not include vaccines sent to places like CVS under the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston was part of the team that developed Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.