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FDA tells J&J to toss 60M doses made at Baltimore plant, allows release of 10M doses

FILE - This Dec. 2, 2020, file photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows vials of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two (Johnson & Johnson via AP)

By: The Associated Press & Scripps National

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The FDA said Friday that it would allow 10 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine made in a troubled Baltimore plant to be distributed but ordered that an additional 60 million doses must be discarded because of possible contamination.

The FDA says the 10 million doses made by Emergent BioSolutions should be distributed with a warning that states that it cannot guarantee the company followed proper manufacturing processes.

Emergent BioSolutions had been producing doses of both the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this year. However, the company said in March that one batch of the J&J drug "did not meet quality standards."

The New York Times reports that the factory conflated the ingredients in the AZ and J&J vaccines.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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