President Biden said Wednesday that the US government is purchasing an additional 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson to ensure “maximum flexibility” in ending the pandemic.
The one-time doses are not expected until after the US amasses sufficient stocks of vaccine for all residents in May, but Biden said he wanted more injections to avoid unforeseen problems.
“I’m doing this because we need maximum flexibility in this war period,” Biden said at an event at the White House to announce the purchase.
“There is always a chance that we will face unexpected challenges or that we will come – there will be a new need for a vaccination effort or vaccination effort. A lot can happen. A lot can change. And we must be prepared. “
The recently approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single injection, unlike previously approved two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
Overall, the Johnson & Johnson shot was found to be 66 percent effective in preventing moderate to severe illness 28 days after vaccination and 85 percent effective in preventing serious illness.
The US has already ordered 300 million doses from Pfizer and Moderna – enough for 300 million people, or roughly all Americans – and 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Biden said the US will eventually help other countries distribute vaccines if there are more vaccine doses 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 in the end we won’t be safe until the world is safe, ”said Biden.
‘And so we are going to make sure that Americans are taken care of first. But then we will try to help the rest of the world. “
Johnson & Johnson struggled with the initial rate of vaccine production following the Food and Drug Administration’s approval last month – the government provided just 4 million doses of 20 million planned this month. The company is partnering with Merck and Emergent BioSolutions to produce more doses and reportedly expects to complete the first order of 100 million doses in June.
Biden was scheduled to speak at an Emergent facility in Baltimore, Maryland on Wednesday, but his speech was hastily rescheduled after a Sunday report detailed Emergent’s role in the government’s aggressive push to buy an anthrax vaccine that does little more than cheap. antibiotics to improve patient outcomes.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2010-2018, the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile spent 40 percent of its resources on the anthrax vaccine, instead of masks, coats, and other supplies scarce for COVID-19, forcing nurses to carry trash bags.
According to the CDC, nearly 19 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of vaccine and about 10 percent has been fully vaccinated.
U.S. states began vaccinating vulnerable adults in mid-December after a long FDA review of the vaccine from Pfizer and partner BioNTech, which was about 95 percent effective in trials. The FDA quickly approved a second two-dose vaccine manufactured by Moderna with comparable efficacy.