Merck To Help Produce Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus Vaccine - Biden

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2021) US President Joe Biden announced that pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. will help produce Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccines in a move bound to accelerate the inculcation campaign in the United States.

Biden said that the United States is now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May, two months ahead of schedule.

"Johnson & Johnson and Merck will work together to expand the production of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. This is a type of collaboration between companies we saw in World War II," Biden said in televised remarks.

The US president promised to invoke the Defense Production Act to equip two Merck facilities to the standards necessary to safely manufacture the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. In addition, the Johnson & Johnson's vaccine manufacturing facilities will now begin to operate 24 hours a day seven days a week, Biden said.

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 the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The vaccine was the third candidate to be given FDA approval, following authorization for vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.