President Biden said on Wednesday that the US government is buying another 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson to ensure “maximum flexibility” in ending the pandemic.
Doses in a single injection are not expected to arrive until after the US gathers enough vaccine supplies for all residents in May, but Biden said he wants more shots to protect against unforeseen problems.
“I’m doing this because in this war effort we need maximum flexibility,” Biden said at a White House event to announce the acquisition.
“There is always a chance that we will face unexpected challenges or we will do it – there will be a new need for vaccination effort or vaccination effort. A lot can happen. A lot can change. And we need to be prepared. ”
The recently approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single shot, unlike previously approved two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
Johnson & Johnson shooting was found to be 66% effective overall in preventing moderate to severe disease 28 days after vaccination and 85% effective in preventing severe disease.
The US has already ordered 300 million doses each from Pfizer and Moderna – enough for 300 million people, or just about all Americans – as well as 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Biden said the United States will eventually help other countries distribute the vaccine if there are more doses of the vaccine than are needed domestically.
“This is not something that can be stopped by a fence – no matter how high you build a fence or a wall. So we will not be safe until the world is safe, “said Biden.
“So we’re going to start making sure Americans are taken care of first. But we will try to help the rest of the world. ”
Johnson & Johnson struggled with the initial vaccine production rate after the Food and Drug Administration approved it last month – providing the government with only 4 million doses of the 20 million planned this month. The company is working with Merck and Emergent BioSolutions to produce more doses and expects to complete the initial order of 100 million doses in June.
Biden was due to speak Wednesday at an Emergent unit in Baltimore, Maryland, but his speech was hastily moved after a report on Sunday detailed Emergent’s role in aggressively pushing the government to buy an anthrax vaccine that does little more. than cheap antibiotics to improve patient outcomes.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the US National Strategic Stockpile spent 40% of its funds in 2010-2018 on the anthrax vaccine, rather than on masks, gowns and other supplies that were in small amounts for COVID-19, result nurses wear garbage bags.
Nearly 19 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of vaccine and about 10 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
The United States began vaccinating vulnerable adults in mid-December, after a long period of review of the vaccine by the FDA from Pfizer and partner BioNTech, which was approximately 95% effective in the studies. The FDA quickly approved a second two-dose vaccine produced by Moderna with similar efficacy.