As the Biden administration blames conservative media and Republican governors for the sluggish pace of coronavirus vaccinations after an initially robust rollout, public health officials point to another cause, noting that perhaps no other incident drove current vaccine hesitancy more than the series of missteps surrounding the Johnson & Johnson jab.

Though the Moderna and Pfizer shots were already on the market, news of the convenient, single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine — which could be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures and was therefore more easily within reach for people residing in rural or remote areas — convinced a sizeable segment of unvaccinated Americans to wait for that brand’s approval.