WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2021) US President Joe Biden on Tuesday will announce that pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. will help produce Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine, a move that could dramatically increase the supply of vaccines, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing senior administration officials.
Under the arrangement Merk, a fierce competitor of Johnson & Johnson, will dedicate two of its facilities in the US to producing the vaccines, the report said.
The agreement could potentially double the amount of vaccines that Johnson & Johnson would be able to make on its own, the report added.
Merck, one of the world's largest vaccine makers, had tried to produce a vaccine of its own but failed.
On Saturday, the US food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had given emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine. The vaccine was the third candidate to be given FDA approval, following authorization for vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.
