AHF Salutes President Biden on Historic Merck/Johnson & Johnson Deal to Produce 100M More COVID Vaccine Doses

World’s largest AIDS group also urges administration to deploy Ryan White clinics as vaccination sites

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) praised today’s announcement from U.S. President Joseph R. Biden that pharmaceutical giant Merck will manufacture the vaccine from its competitor Johnson & Johnson in order to produce an additional 100 million doses, according to Politico (See: Merck to Help Produce Johnson & Johnson Vaccine, Politico 3/2/21).

“Johnson & Johnson reportedly has been struggling to scale up production of its vaccine and with the added production capacity, more people who need it will get it sooner. We’re in a race against COVID variants and the sooner we get more people vaccinated the risk of new variants will be diminished,” said Ged Kenslea, senior director of communications for AHF.

“This announcement first reported in the Washington Post is historic. We haven’t seen this kind of presidential intervention in the private manufacturing sector since World War II,” added Kenslea. “AHF also stands ready to offer its clinics in the U.S. for vaccine administration. We’re excited that the Biden administration is looking at ways to quickly scale up this needed prevention on a global scale.”

About AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.5 million people in 45 countries worldwide in the U.S., Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare.

Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications, AHF 
+1.323.791.5526 [cell]
+1.323.308.1833 [work]
gedk@aidshealth.org

John Hassell, National Director of Advocacy, AHF
+1.202.774.4854 [cell]
ohn.hassell@aidshealth.org