US announces $1 billion COVID-19 vaccine deal with Johnson & Johnson

In its latest investment under ‘Operation Warp Speed’, the United States of America has announced a new $1 billion deal with Johnson & Johnson. This investment aims at securing 100 million doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine which the company is developing. The Trump administration, which has invested over $9.4 billion on COVID-19 vaccines until now, is hoping for vaccine distribution by the end of this year.

J&J had already received $456 million in March, via its subsidiary Jansen. However, this new money was reportedly granted to the pharmaceutical company to accelerate the production of the vaccine allowing the doses to be shipped as soon as the drug receives regulatory approval. According to reports, the American government also has an option to acquire doses sufficient to vaccinate 300 million people.

Read: United States To Call UN Vote On Iran Arms Embargo Extension: Mike Pompeo

In addition to J&J, the Trump administration has also invested in four other companies, with an aim to secure at least 700 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. One of them is American Brand Moderna, which is currently in its final phase of human trials. While, Trump has been optimistic about COVID-19 vaccine by Moderna, Anthony Fauci, has reckoned that he was “cautiously optimistic” that a vaccine would be ready by the end of this year and would be widely distributed throughout 2021.

Read: Trump Leads July Fundraising, But Biden Closes Resources Gap

'No guarantee of vaccine'

Testifying to the US Congress, the head of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said, “There's never a guarantee that you're going to get a safe and effective vaccine, but from everything we've seen now in the animal data, as well as the early human data, we feel cautiously optimistic that we will have a vaccine by the end of this year and as we go into 2021''. In addition, He also apprised about six other vaccines including five or six that the federal government is involved with while adding that over 2,50,000 people are ready to participate in the vaccine trials.

(With inputs from agency)

Read: US: Anthony Fauci Says Unlikely To Use Coronavirus Vaccines From Russia And China

Read: Fauci Testifies About Vaccine's Possible Availability, HCQ & Trump's COVID Response