Johnson & Johnson board member Dr. Mark McClellan told CNBC that “if the outcome of the clinical trial is completed,” the company could significantly increase the availability of Covid vaccine supplies in the country in the coming weeks.
“I know that J&J makes a very large supply, producing everything, both in the US and in other parts of the world, in order to probably have enough vaccines for 100 million Americans by spring, so by April.” , the former FDA commissioner said in an interview Thursday night on “The News with Shepard Smith.”
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, top government doctor Anthony Fauci said Johnson & Johnson would have enough data on its vaccine to begin testing in a week or two. McClellan told host Shepard Smith that the most important thing for the company’s vaccine is the large-scale clinical trial that is underway now.
“The independent scientists overseeing this study should look closely in the very near future based on these results, and we’ll see how fast the vaccine could go,” McClellan said.
The US produces an average of about 883,000 Covid vaccines a day in the last six days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite this, less than 50% of the 37,960,000 doses distributed took place in people’s arms.
At least 12 states reported a lack of vaccines. Officials in San Francisco and New York have warned that the dose could be completely reduced this week. At least 15 vaccination sites in New York have temporarily closed. New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio has told NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez that at least 23,000 vaccine appointments will have to be rescheduled.
McClellan noted that “supply will be growing, but probably not enough to keep up with the large number of Americans who really want to get vaccinated now.” He told Smith, however, that he believes the Biden administration will be able to help increase the speed of vaccine launches.
“It will be a challenge, but I think the supply will be there in the next few months to vaccinate even more than 100 million Americans,” said McClellan, a health policy expert at Duke University.
President Joe Biden has vowed a “large-scale, wartime effort” to combat the coronavirus pandemic and accelerate vaccine production using the Defense Production Act during a briefing Thursday.
“We have already identified suppliers and are working with them to advance the plan,” Biden said.
He added that the DPA would help address supply chain issues, including a lack of syringes.