BREAKING NEWS: Joe Biden announces that the US will have enough vaccine for every adult by the end of MAY – after invoking the Defense Production Act to assist the Merck-Johnson & Johnson vaccine partnership
- President Joe Biden is using the Defense Production Act to assist Merck with manufacturing Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine
- The news of the ‘historic partnership’ broke earlier Tuesday and Biden will speak about it at the White House later this afternoon
- The announcement ‘speaks to the ability of this administration broadly to bring them to the table,’ White House press secretary Jen Psaki said
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. will have enough vaccine for every adult in the country by the end of May.
Biden made the announcement on the heels of green-lighting the Defense Production Act to be used to assist Merck with manufacturing Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.
He also announced an initiative to get schools reopened by prioritizing the vaccination of K-12 teachers and staff using the federal pharmacy program during a brief speech from the White House’s Roosevelt Room.
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday from the White House’s Roosevelt Room that ther would be enough vaccine for every American adult by the end of May – and announced prioritizing K-12 educators and staff for vaccines
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the Defense Production Act will be used to ensure that two Merck facilities are able to produce Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine
At Tuesday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki pointed to the agreement between the two companies, which are usually competitors, and explained the U.S. is facilitating the partnership in ‘several key ways.’
‘Including invoking the Defense Production Act to equip two Merck facilities to the standards necessary to safely manufacture the vaccine,’ Psaki explained.
She also said the Defense Department would provide ‘daily logistical support’ to assist Merck’s and Johnson & Johnson’s efforts.
The news of the ‘historic partnership’ broke earlier Tuesday and Biden will speak about it at the White House later this afternoon.
Psaki said that Biden will speak in more detail about how the partnership effects the timeline on when most Americans can expect to be vaccinated.
She pointed to the announcement as evidence that the Biden administration was getting things done.
‘These obviously are two companies that have historically been competitors so the fact that they are coming together speaks to the ability of this administration broadly to bring them to the table and work together to address the pandemic in the country,’ Psaki said.
She added that it was an ‘across-the-administration effort.’
‘As soon as we learned about the fact that Johnson & Johnson was behind in the manufacturing steps and efforts, we took steps to ensure we can expedite that and partner them with one of the world’s biggest manufacturers,’ the press secretary explained.
One of the two DPA-assisted Merck production facilities will help with ‘fill-finish capacity,’ the actual filling and packaging of vaccine vials. The DPA was also used to help get the correct incredients for the vaccine, which will be produced in the other Merck facility.
Psaki wouldn’t say if the reason why the administration stepped in was because Johnson & Johnson wouldn’t be able to fulfill its obligation of 100 million doses to the U.S. government otherwise.
‘I wouldn’t put it in those terms,’ she said, instead saying the White House wanted to ‘capitalize on the scientific breakthrough’ and ensure that vaccine production was ‘expedited.’
On Saturday, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, making it the third to gain the U.S. government’s approval.
One reporter at the briefing pointed out conversations between people at Johnson & Johnson and Merck were happening before Biden was sworn-in, asking why the administration deserved credit.
‘There’s a difference between conversations and it moving forward, and the use of the Defense Production Act, which is something this president and not the prior president committed to invoking,’ Psaki said, taking a swipe at former President Donald Trump, who was reluctant to use the DPA in the early months of the pandemic.
She said she was only ‘conveying what got it across the finish line.’
‘And I think it’s clear that that has only happened relatively recently,’ she said.
Psaki also announced an uptick in the number of vaccines, overall, being sent out to states.
She said Tuesday that the supply increase would be from 14.5 to 15.2 million doses per week, up from 8.6 million doses when Biden took office. She said that an additional 2.8 million doses of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be distributed, for a total of 18 million doses this week.
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