FOG BLOG COVID LOG: MERCK & J&J TEAM UP TO PRODUCE VACCINE , 1 NEW CASE IN NB:

RIVALS MERCK HAS JOINED WITH JOHNSON AND JOHNSON IN ORDER TO RAMP UP VACCINE PRODUCTION, 1 NEW CASE HERE IN NEW BRUNSWICK AS PROVINCE NEARS THE YELLOW PHASE OF RECOVERY.......ALSO VACCINE REGISTRATION COMING SOON TO THE PROVINCE.......Active cases drop to 36 as countdown to possible provincewide yellow phase begins,,,,,,

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The New Brunswick government says it will "soon" have more details to share on how people can register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. "An online registration component will be part of that process for some groups," said Department of Health spokesperson Shawn Berry. Clinics for more than 2,400 residents at 121 licensed long-term care facilities are slated to take place this week, Public Health said in a news release Monday. First-dose clinics for residents of all licensed long-term care facilities are expected to be completed by the week of March 14. The first phase of vaccinations also targets front-line health-care workers and Indigenous adults. A clinic is expected to be held this week in Madawaska Maliseet First Nation, followed by community clinics in other First Nations........NEWS ON THE MERCK PLAN TO MAKE JOHNSON AND JOHNSON VACCINE.......President Bidenl announced today that pharmaceutical giant Merck will help make Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot coronavirus vaccine — an unusual pact between fierce competitors that could sharply boost the supply of the newly authorized vaccine, according to senior administration officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that has not been announced, said they began scouring the country for additional manufacturing capacity after they realized in the first days of the administration that Johnson & Johnson had fallen behind in vaccine production. They soon sought to broker a deal with Merck, one of the world’s largest vaccine makers, which had failed to develop its own coronavirus vaccine.

Under the arrangement, Merck will dedicate two facilities in the United States to Johnson & Johnson’s shots. One will provide “fill-finish” services, the last stage of the production process during which the vaccine substance is placed in vials and packaged for distribution. The other will make the vaccine, and has the potential to vastly increase supply, perhaps even doubling what Johnson & Johnson could make on its own, the officials said. How does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine work? When is it available? What to know about the new shot. “It’s a historic partnership,” said one of the officials, adding that the companies “recognize this is a wartime effort.” He praised their sense of “corporate citizenship.” The officials declined to provide details about how Merck’s involvement will affect the projected supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the timetable for distributing it. It could easily take two months to get the “fill-finish” plant ready and a few more months to equip the other facility to make the vaccine, according to a person familiar with the process who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue. The Biden administration’s efforts to ramp up production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine suggest that it sees the vaccine playing a bigger role in addressing the challenges ahead, such as the eventual need for children’s vaccines and possibly for boosters to counter virus variants, said a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it. Johnson & Johnson is conducting a trial of a two-shot vaccine regimen, with the doses given two months apart; results are not expected until at least May.