Biden to buy more COVID vaccine doses as stimulus bill passes

President Joe Biden is expected to announce that he is procuring an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine for the second half of 2021 during a meeting today with J&J and Merck executives. Last week, the two pharmaceutical giants formed a partnership to ramp up distribution of the single-dose J&J vaccine. 'This is war time, the extra doses gives us maximum flexibility for the upcoming months,' said Andy Slavitt, White House senior advisor for COVID response, during a White House press briefing. The increase in doses comes as the president closes in on his first 50 days in office.