U.S. orders additional 100 million does from Johnson & Johnson

If there’s surplus, it will be shared with other nations, Biden says.

President Biden said Wednesday that his administration is ordering an additional 100 million doses of the single-shot vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, another step to amass stockpiles as a safeguard against manufacturing disruptions or outbreaks of coronavirus variants.

Biden announced the plan a week after vowing that the United States will have enough vaccine to administer to all American adults by the end of May.

The new order, which Johnson & Johnson indicated has not been finalized, will bring total United States orders of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to 200 million. Because it’s a one-dose vaccine, the supply will represent enough for 200 million people.

It is not expected to be fulfilled until the second half of the year, administration officials said.

The U.S. government has ordered 600 million doses of two-dose vaccines from Pfizer/ Biontech and Moderna, allowing for 300 million people to be fully vaccinated by the end of July, or a total of 500 million people with all vaccines ordered to date. The number of adults estimated toeligibletobe vaccinated in the United States is 260 million.

Biden, responding to growing criticism about the widening gap with developing nations as the United States and Europe accelerate immunization efforts, said his goal is to take care of the pandemic in the United States, then share vaccine with other countries.

“We’re going to start off making sure Americans are taken care of first, and we’re then going to try to take care of the rest of the world,” Biden said in response to a shouted question from a reporter.

He said he would share any U.S. surplus with the world. But in his remarks, he made clear that he did not consider the dou

bled Johnson & Johnson supply to be surplus.

“We need maximum flexibility. There is always a chance we will encounter unexpected challenges or there will be a new need for a vaccination effort,” he said.