Merck Helping To Produce J&J's COVID Vaccine

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Merck will be partnering with Johnson & Johnson to help manufacture its single-shot coronavirus vaccine, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.

This is an unusual and rare partnership between Merck, headquartered in Rahway, and J&J, headquartered in New Brunswick. Usually, the two are competitors in the lucrative field of pharmaceuticals.

The J&J shot was just approved by the FDA Friday, and approximately 73,600 doses are headed to New Jersey, with delivery expected this week. Two Merck facilities will be manufacturing J&J's COVID vaccine.

J&J's vaccine facilities are now working 24/7, around the clock to make their vaccine.

"Among the things I learned when I came into office was that Johnson & Johnson was behind on manufacturing and production," said Biden. "It simply wasn't coming fast enough."

"So my team has been hard at work to accelerate that effort," said the president. "This is a war-time effort. Two of the largest healthcare and pharmaceutical companies in the world, that are usually competitors, are working together on the vaccine ... This is the type of collaboration between companies we saw in World War II."

Vaccines will be going to more than 7,000 pharmacies, just like the flu shot, and the federal government is also opening up mass vaccination centers in stadiums, community centers and parking lots, where thousands of people can be vaccinated per day.

He also said that the U.S. is now on track to have enough vaccine for every adult in America by the end of May. Biden said the Trump administration did not contract to have enough vaccine for every adult in America. His administration sped up production to have enough by July, and then even earlier, by May.

"We're making progress from the mess we inherited," said Biden Tuesday, in a clear swipe at Trump.

Biden said he is still working to get 100 million people vaccinated in his first 100 days in office.

"We've got halfway to that goal in 37 days and I feel confident we'll make it all the way," he said.

"We should all be encouraged by this news of a third safe and highly effective vaccine," said Biden. "The more people who will get vaccinated, the faster we're going to overcome this virus and get our economy back on track."

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