WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden said the United States expects to receive enough coronavirus vaccine for all adults by the end of May – two months ahead of schedule – and he has pressured states to give at least one injection into the arms of teachers by the end of March to accelerate the reopening of schools.
Biden also announced on Tuesday that drugmaker Merck will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved one-shot vaccine, comparing the partnership between the two pharmaceutical companies to the spirit of national cooperation during World War II.
“We are now on track to have a sufficient vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May,” said Biden.
Despite the rapid pace of vaccine production, the work of inoculating Americans could go on until summer, officials said, depending on both the government’s ability to distribute doses and Americans’ willingness to roll up their sleeves.
Biden’s announcements quickly raised expectations of when the country could safely emerge from the pandemic with the promise of faster vaccinations, but even while expressing optimism, Biden quickly tempered the prospect of a return to life as it was before the virus arrived.
“I was warned not to give an answer to that because we don’t know for sure,” said Biden, before saying that his hope for a return to normal was some time earlier “this time next year.”
As Biden spoke, states across the country were moving to relax virus-related restrictions. This is despite objections from the White House and the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who warned against any relaxation of virus protocols until more Americans are vaccinated.
In Texas, Republican Party Governor Greg Abbott has decided to suspend his state’s mask mandate and a number of other limitations. Michigan Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer has lowered capacity limits at restaurants and public and residential meetings.
Fauci said earlier that the country must achieve a vaccination rate of around 80% to achieve “herd immunity”. Only about 8% of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although the rate of vaccination is increasing. The US set a new daily injection record last Thursday and Friday.
In the hope of further increasing vaccinations. the Biden government told governors to be prepared to administer even more doses in the coming weeks. More injections are also targeted at the federally supported program to administer doses in retail pharmacies, which federal officials believe can double or triple their rate of vaccination.
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 that they are now receiving from Pfizer and Moderna.
These pharmacies will be essential to place vaccines in the arms of teachers – especially in the approximately 20 states where vaccines have not been prioritized. 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 have had to choose between looking after their children and working.
“We are going to treat personal learning as the essential service that it is,” said Biden. Teachers will be able to apply directly through participating retail pharmacies, the administration said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also announced on Tuesday that the federal government would increase supplies of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to states next week to 15.2 million doses a week, up from 14.5 million previously. . The states will also receive 2.8 million doses of the J&J injection this week.
In a call with governors on Tuesday, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said states should prepare to administer 16 million to 17 million weekly doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the end of March. , rising to 17 million to 18 million weekly in early April. The supply of J&J doses to the states, which is expected to drop after the initial shipment this week, will rise to 4 million to 6 million weekly doses by the end of March and from 5 million to 6 million weekly doses by the end of April. .
Officials said J&J faced unexpected production problems with its vaccine and produced just 3.9 million doses before being released for emergency use authorization on Saturday. The company promised to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June.
Before the J&J injection was approved, Biden suggested that it would take until the end of July to have enough vaccine for every adult in the United States.
Facing doubts about the delay in the company’s delivery schedule, J&J vice president Richard Nettles told legislators on Capitol Hill last week that the company had faced “significant challenges” because of its “highly complex manufacturing process. ”.
Psaki said a “management-wide effort” was needed to get the two historic rivals to work together on vaccines, although talks between J&J and Merck have been going on for months.
“There is a difference between talking and moving on,” she said.
The White House said Merck would dedicate two factories to the production process. One would make the vaccine and the other would take care of inserting the vaccine in vials and guarantee strict quality controls. Psaki said the Biden government was using its powers under the Defense Production Act to help Merck re-equip itself to work in production.
Still, it was unclear when the effect of Merck’s aid would be reflected in the supply. Federal officials warned that creating highly specialized manufacturing lines to produce vaccines would take months.
Compared to the two-dose versions produced by Moderna and Pfizer, the J&J vaccine is less resource-intensive to distribute and administer, making it critical to US plans to spread vaccinations worldwide – but only after the Americans are inoculated. The J&J vaccine can be stored for months at a refrigerated temperature, rather than frozen, and 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 manufacturing vaccines in bulk at its Janssen facility in the Netherlands, and with a company in the USA, Emergent BioSolutions, and another in India, Biological E. Ltd. Other contract manufacturers are lined up to help with further steps, including putting the vaccine in vials, in the USA, Italy, Spain and South Africa.
In the struggle to create COVID-19 vaccines, the three Western drug makers that have dominated the vaccine industry for decades – Merck & Co., Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline – have surprisingly fallen short. Merck suspended its own plans to develop a coronavirus vaccine earlier this year, finding that its candidates were generating a lower immune system response compared to other vaccines. She said she would instead focus her work on developing treatments for COVID-19.
Now, amid the global outcry for more doses of vaccine, these heavyweights are helping to manufacture doses for less experienced rivals, whose vaccines won the regulators’ first emergency clearances.
Merck has said since then that it is in talks to help other pharmaceutical companies with vaccine production, but did not say on Tuesday whether other deals are imminent.
“Merck remains firm in our commitment to contribute to the global response to the pandemic and to prepare to face future pandemics,” the Kenilworth, New Jersey-based company said in a statement.
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Johnson reported from Fairless Hills, Pa. Lemire reported from New York. Lauran Neergaard in Washington and Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington, contributed to this report.