Johnson & Johnson hopes to have enough COVID-19 vaccines for 100 million Americans by April, while federals increase inoculation efforts nationwide, a company official says.
The New Jersey drug maker is “going all out with its production” as it awaits the results of a large-scale clinical trial that could allow emergency shootings to be approved in the coming weeks, according to Board member Dr. Mark McClellan J&J and former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
“I know J&J is making a huge offer … in order to probably have enough vaccines for 100 million Americans by spring, around April,” McClellan told CNBC on Thursday night. “This will make a big difference in the availability of supply in the coming weeks and months, if the process works.”
J&J is expected to release data later this month from the phase 3 study of its single-dose coronavirus vaccine, which was shown to generate an immune response to COVID-19 in an early-stage study.
The company will then apply for an emergency use authorization from the FDA, which would allow it to be administered nationwide, such as existing photos from Pfizer and Moderna.
However, the pharmaceutical company allegedly faced production problems that led it to lag behind in its goal of providing 12 million doses by the end of February. However, J&J said it is “confident” that it will be able to meet its supply commitments this year.
While the supply of vaccines in general will increase, it will be difficult to “keep up with the large number of Americans who really want to get vaccinated now,” McClellan said.
Less than half of the approximately 38 million doses distributed so far have entered the arms of Americans, according to federal data, and officials in places like New York have warned of shortages.
President Biden’s administration “has set a goal of one million doses a day,” McClellan told CNBC. “In fact, we’ve been at that level for the last two days and I think people will expect a higher level of vaccine distribution and administration.”