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Johnson & Johnson board member Dr Mark McClellan told CNBC that “if the clinical trial is successful,” the company could dramatically increase the availability of the country’s Covid vaccine supply in the weeks to come.
“I know J&J is doing a really big supply, putting everything on its production, here in the United States and around the world, with the goal of having maybe enough vaccines for 100 million Americans here. spring, by April yes, ”the former FDA commissioner said in an interview Thursday night on“ The News with Shepard Smith ”.
Speaking at the White House Thursday, the government’s senior infectious disease physician Anthony Fauci said Johnson & Johnson would have enough data on their vaccine to begin analysis in a week or two. McClellan told host Shepard Smith that the most important thing for the company’s vaccine is the ongoing large-scale clinical trial.
“The independent scientists overseeing this study should take a close look in the very near future based on these findings, and we’ll see how quickly the vaccine could move forward,” McClellan said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States receives an average of about 883,000 doses of the Covid vaccine per day over the past six days. Despite this, less than 50% of the 37,960,000 doses distributed made their way into the hands of the population.
At least 12 states have reported vaccine shortages. Officials in San Francisco and New York have warned they could run out of doses completely this week. At least 15 vaccination sites in New York have temporarily closed. New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio told NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez that at least 23,000 vaccine appointments will need to be rescheduled.
McClellan noted that “the supply will increase, but probably not enough to keep up with the large number of Americans who really want to get vaccinated now.” He told Smith, however, that he believed the Biden administration would be able to help speed up the vaccine rollout.
“It’s going to be tough, but I think the offer will be there over the next two months to immunize over 100 million Americans yet,” said McClellan, a health policy expert at Duke University.
President Joe Biden has pledged a “large-scale war effort” to combat the coronavirus pandemic and to speed up vaccine production using the Defense Production Act during a Report Thursday.
“We have already identified vendors and are working with them to move the plan forward,” Biden said.
He added that the DPA would help address issues with the supply chain, including a syringe shortage.
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