WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden said the U.S. expects to receive enough coronavirus vaccine for all adults by the end of May – two months earlier than expected – and he has pushed states to put at least one shot in the arms of teachers to get through the end of March to expedite the reopening of the school.
Biden also announced Tuesday that drugmaker Merck will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved one-vaccine, which compares the partnership between the two drug companies to the spirit of national cooperation during World War II.
“We are now on track to have enough vaccine for every adult in America by May May,” Biden said.
Despite the increased rate of vaccine production, the work of vaccinating Americans could stretch into the summer, officials said, depending on the government’s ability to deliver doses and the Americans’ willingness to roll up their sleeves.
Biden’s announcements quickly raised expectations for when the country could safely emerge from the pandemic with the promise of faster vaccinations, but even when he expressed optimism, Biden quickly tempered the prospect of a return to life as before the virus.
“I was warned not to answer that because we do not know for sure,” Biden said before saying his hopes of a normal return were once again ahead of “this time next year”.
While Biden was speaking, states were moving across the country to loosen virus-related restrictions. This despite the objections of the White House and the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, dr. Anthony Fauci, who warned against loosening virus protocols until more Americans are vaccinated.
In Texas, GOP government Greg Abbott lifted his state’s masked wear and a number of other restrictions. Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has eased capacity constraints on restaurants and public and residential gatherings.
Fauci said earlier that the country should achieve a vaccination rate of about 80% to achieve ‘herd immunity’. Only about 8% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, although the rate of vaccination has increased. The US set a new daily record for injections last Thursday and Friday.
Hoping to increase vaccinations even further. the government of Biden has called on governors to make preparations to administer even more doses in the coming weeks. More shots are also on the way to the federally supported program to administer doses in retail pharmacies, which according to federal officials could double or triple their vaccination rate.
More than 800,000 doses of the J&J vaccine will also be distributed to pharmacies this week, in addition to the 2.4 million they now receive from Pfizer and Moderna.
These pharmacies will be the key to getting the vaccines into the arms of teachers – especially in the roughly 20 countries where shots are not pre-empted. The aim is to help reopen schools to better educate students who are at risk of falling behind during the pandemic and to reduce the burden on parents who had to choose between childcare and work.
“Let’s consider personal learning as the essential service it is,” Biden said. Teachers will be able to report directly through participating retail pharmacies, the administration said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also announced on Tuesday that the federal government would increase the supply of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to states next week to 15.2 million doses per week, up from 14.5 million previously. States will also receive 2.8 million doses from the J&J survey this week.
White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said in a conversation with governors on Tuesday that states should administer 16 million to 17 million weekly doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the end of March. They will rise to 17 million to 18 million weekly by the end of March. The supply of J&J doses to states, which is expected to drop this week after initial shipment, will climb to 4 million to 6 million doses per week by the end of March and 5 to 6 million doses by the end of April.
Officials said J&J had unexpected production problems with its vaccine and produced only 3.9 million doses before being cleared for emergency use on Saturday. The company has promised to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June.
Prior to the approval of the J&J shot, Biden suggested that it would take until the end of July to have enough vaccine for every adult in the US.
Richard Nettles, deputy president of J&J, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week that the company faced “significant challenges” due to the “extremely complicated” manufacturing process.
Psaki said an effort was needed ‘across the administration’ to get the two historic competitors on the vaccines working together, even though talks between J&J and Merck have been going on for months.
“There is a difference between conversations and moving forward,” she said.
The White House said Merck would dedicate two plants to the production process. One will make the vaccine and the other will place the vaccine in the vials and ensure strict quality control. Psaki said the Biden government was using its powers under the Defense Production Act to help Merck work on the production.
Yet it was not immediately clear when the effect of Merck’s assistance in the offer would be reflected. Federal officials have warned that setting up highly specialized manufacturing lines to produce vaccines would take months.
Compared to the two-dose versions manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer, the J&J vaccine is less resource-intensive to distribute and administer, making it critical to U.S. plans to distribute vaccines around the world – but only as soon as Americans are vaccinated. The J&J vaccine can be stored for months at chilled temperatures, rather than frozen, and it does not require patients to return for a second dose three or four weeks later.
J&J has set up a global production network that includes brewing vaccine at the Janssen facility in the Netherlands, and with a company in the US, Emergent BioSolutions, and another in India, Biological E. Ltd. Other contract manufacturers are queuing up to help with later steps, including placing the vaccine in vials, in the US, Italy, Spain and South Africa.
In the scramble to create COVID-19 vaccines, the three Western drug manufacturers that have dominated the vaccine industry for decades – Merck & Co., Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline – surprisingly fell short. Earlier this year, Merck discontinued its own plans to develop a coronavirus vaccine and found that its candidates generated an inferior immune system response compared to other vaccines. It is said that it would rather focus its work on developing treatments for COVID-19.
Amid the global upheaval for more doses of vaccines, the heavyweights are helping to produce doses for less experienced competitors whose vaccines have received the first approvals from regulators.
Merck has since said he is in talks to help other drug companies with the production of vaccines, but declined to say Tuesday whether other deals are imminent.
“Merck remains steadfast in our commitment to contribute to the global response to the pandemic and to prepare to address future pandemics,” the company in Kenilworth, New Jersey, said in a statement.
___
Johnson reported from Fairless Hills, Pa. Lemire reports from New York. Lauran Neergaard in Washington and Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington, contributed to this report.