By Justin Sink, Josh Wingrove and Riley Griffin
President Joe Biden will announce Tuesday that Merck & Co. Inc. will help make Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine — a collaboration between rivals as the immunization race narrows and governments race to ramp up supply before dangerous new variants of the virus further erupt.
Assistant Press Secretary Kevin Munoz said via Twitter that Biden would announce the “historic partnership,” reported earlier by the Washington Post. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said in a tweet that Biden would announce the deal in afternoon remarks.
J&J’s vaccine was authorized for U.S. use on Saturday, adding a third shot to the country’s inoculation efforts. The company immediately allocated a stockpile of 3.9 million doses, which are already being shipped, and has said it will provide 16 million more by the end of the month. Biden officials have said those doses will skew heavily toward the end of the month.
Merck spokesman Patrick Ryan said the company remains committed to contributing to the global response to the pandemic but declined to comment directly on a potential collaboration. J&J didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
