President Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. government is buying 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson to ensure “maximum flexibility” to end the pandemic.
Doses are not expected to arrive at once after the U.S. accumulates enough vaccine supplies for all residents in May, but Biden said he wanted more shots to protect himself from unforeseen problems.
“I do this because in this war effort we need maximum flexibility,” Biden said at a White House event to announce the purchase.
“There is always the possibility of encountering unexpected challenges or challenges: there will be a new need for a vaccination or vaccination effort. Many things can happen. Many things can change. And we must be prepared.”
The recently approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single shot, unlike the previously approved two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
Johnson & Johnson shooting was found to be 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe disease 28 days after vaccination and 85% effective in preventing serious illness.
The United States has already ordered 300 million doses each from Pfizer and Moderna, enough for 300 million people, or roughly all Americans, as well as 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Biden said the United States will ultimately help other countries with vaccine distribution if there are more vaccine doses than are needed nationally.
“This is not something that can stop a fence, no matter how high it builds a fence or a wall. So we will not ultimately be safe until the world is safe,” Biden said.
“And we will start making sure that Americans are taken care of first. But we will try to help the rest of the world. “
Johnson & Johnson has struggled with its initial vaccine production rate after Food and Drug Administration approval last month, supplying the government with only 4 million of the 20 million doses planned this month. The company is partnering with Merck and Emergent BioSolutions to produce more doses and is reportedly expected to complete the initial order of two million doses in June.
Biden was supposed to speak Wednesday at an Emergent facility in Baltimore, Maryland, but his speech was hastily relocated after a Sunday report detailed Emergent’s role in aggressively pushing the government to buy a vaccine. against anthrax that does little more than cheap antibiotics to improve patient outcomes.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. National Strategic Stock allocated 40% of its funds in 2010-2018 to the anthrax vaccine, rather than masks, gowns, and other supplies for COVID-19. carry garbage bags.
Nearly 19 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of vaccine and about 10 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
U.S. states began vaccinating vulnerable adults in mid-December after a long period of FDA review of the vaccine by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, which was about 95 percent effective in trials . The FDA quickly approved a second two-dose vaccine produced by Moderna with similar efficacy.