April 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. government's removal of
AstraZeneca PLC's COVID-19 shot production from Emergent
BioSolutions Inc's Baltimore manufacturing facility does
not suggest it has any concerns about the vaccine's safety or
effectiveness and will not impact its output of doses, a White
House official said on Monday.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ordered
Johnson & Johnson to take charge of production at
Emergent and for Emergent to stop making AstraZeneca's shots
after the contract manufacturer made an error that ruined 15
million J&J COVID-19 vaccine doses.
"This is a decision that HHS made with Johnson & Johnson and
AstraZeneca in complete collaboration," White House COVID-19
adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters during a press conference.
(Reporting by Carl O'Donnell
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)