The U.S. vaccine supply for next month just got bigger.
On Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson said it will be ready next month to ship 20 million doses of its one-shot vaccine. That adds to a coming surge in vaccine availability, according to a Bloomberg analysis of drugmaker promises.
Along with vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., which both require two doses, the delivery targets through next month will be enough to fully vaccinate 130 million Americans.
Bloomberg’s analysis is based on company statements, data on the number of shots already delivered and conversations with people familiar with the efforts who spoke on condition of anonymity. The analysis assumes J&J’s shot, which hasn’t been approved yet, is cleared for use and that drugmakers meet their new delivery targets — not a guarantee.
The vaccine makers are appearing before Congress Tuesday to give an overview of the rollout so far. J&J will be ready to hand over 4 million doses upon approval and a total of 20 million doses in March, Richard Nettles, J&J’s vice president of U.S. medical affairs for infectious diseases and vaccines, told Congress Tuesday. That new promise updates an analysis Bloomberg published last week that had assumed J&J would deliver fewer shots early on.
“We are confident in our plans to deliver 100 million single-dose vaccines to the United States during the first half of 2021, and we are continuing to partner with the U.S. government to explore all options to accelerate delivery,” Nettles said. The company should be able to produce a billion doses globally by the end of the year, he said.
