White House using Defense Production Act to equip Merck plants for Johnson & Johnson vaccine

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 2, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque     

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States is using the Defense Production Act to equip drugmaker Merck & Co’s plants to make Johnson & Johnson’s just approved COVID-19 vaccine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.

“As soon as we learned about the fact that Johnson and Johnson was behind in the manufacturing steps and efforts we took steps to ensure we can expedite that and partner them with one of the world’s biggest manufacturers,” Psaki told a White House briefing.

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