Merck will help Johnson & Johnson produce more COVID-19 vaccines

Washington. Merck & Co. will help rival Johnson & Johnson produce the new approved coronavirus vaccine so it can be delivered faster, a US government official confirmed on Tuesday.

The announcement comes as the United States tries to boost production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires a single injection. Officials say J&J was in trouble and produced only 3.9 million doses before receiving emergency clearance on Saturday. The company claims that it is about to produce 100 million doses by the end of June.

Last week, in an interpellation in Congress, J&J Vice President Richard Nettles said the company had suffered “significant challenges” to its production due to its “extremely complicated” manufacturing process.

Merck’s offer is likely to help J&J meet its production targets and increase its offer, but the government has not released details yet.

President Joe Biden is expected to address the issue in a speech on Tuesday afternoon. The government estimates that it will have enough doses of the three approved vaccines to inoculate all eligible citizens by mid-June, although transporting the vaccines to medical centers could take a little longer.

It was unclear when Merck’s aid in providing the injections would take effect. Earlier, federal officials had warned that it could take months for complicated production lines to be set up.

A second official source indicated that Merck will dedicate two plants to the production process: one to make the vaccine and the other to put the substance in bottles and to apply quality controls.

The two official sources who revealed Merck’s intentions spoke on condition of anonymity. The Washington Post was the first to break the news.

A few weeks ago, Merck had suspended plans to develop a vaccine, seeing that its test results were disappointing compared to those of other companies. He announced at the time that he would focus on COVID-19 treatments.

Compared to Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the J&J vaccine requires a single injection and is less complicated to administer, becoming an essential part of the US plan to export the drug to the rest of the world, although this only happens once the US population is inoculated. . The J&J vaccine should be stored at low temperatures but not frozen and does not require the patient to return four weeks later for the second injection.