Merck will help its pharmaceutical competitor Johnson & Johnson make the single-shot coronavirus vaccine. That was announced on Tuesday by President Joe Biden.
VOA’s White House bureau chief Steve Herman was in the room when the president also said he wants every American educator to receive at least one vaccine dose by the end of this month, as part of the effort to get the country back to normal as quickly as possible.
President Biden, speaking in the White House State Dining Room, says the cooperation among competitors to produce more doses and other actions will speed up the timeline by two months to have enough vaccine to inoculate every adult American.
“Here’s what all this means – we’re now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May.”
The president, in response to a reporter’s question, said he hopes that “by this time next year” or sooner, things will be back to normal.
