Illustration of Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus vaccine
Dat Ruvic | Reuters
Johnson & Johnson did not manufacture a lot of doses of Covid-19 vaccine with a single injection before the regulatory clearance expected later this month.
The administration has learned in the past two weeks that J&J will have only “a few million” doses ready when the vaccine is likely authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, President Joe Biden’s Tsar Covid told reporters on Wednesday during a White House hearing. Home news information about the pandemic.
Federal and state health officials expected the vaccine supply to grow rapidly after the emergency use of the J&J vaccine was approved. The FDA scheduled a meeting of its Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Organic Products on Feb. 26 to discuss vaccine, and the US could authorize the vaccine the next day.
J&J currently has an agreement with the US government to provide 100 million doses of vaccine by the end of June, Zients said. Assuming the vaccine is licensed, the Biden administration will work with J&J to increase supplies as soon as possible, he said, adding that US officials hope many of these doses will be available in the first months of its launch.
“We are doing everything we can, working with the company to speed up the delivery schedule,” he said.
The news comes as the Biden administration is working to increase the supply of doses, after states complained that demand for photos is rapidly exceeding supply. About 39.7 million of the approximately 331 million Americans received at least their first dose of two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And 15 million of those people have already gotten the second blow.
Biden announced on Thursday that the US has provided another 100 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 100 million more of the Moderna vaccine, increasing the total US supply to 600 million doses. Because vaccines require two doses, a total of 600 million doses would be enough to inoculate 300 million Americans.
And a few days later, on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that the Biden administration is increasing the number of doses of Covid-19 vaccine shipped weekly to states, sending 13.5 million doses this week and doubling. the number that goes to retail pharmacies.
This is a developing story. Please check again for updates.