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Coronavirus Watch: Merck to team with Johnson & Johnson on vaccine rollout

Grace Hauck   | Paste BN

Two pharmaceutical giants are teaming up to expedite production of vaccines.

President Joe Biden is expected to announce Tuesday that Merck & Co. will help make Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot coronavirus vaccine – a historic collaboration that should help J&J catch up after falling behind in its expected vaccine production.

Merck, one of the world’s largest vaccine makers, abandoned its own effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

It's Tuesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know:

  • Stimulus checks: As the Senate prepared to begin debate on the $1.9 billion stimulus package, the number of people expected to cash in was likely to be pared down this week. Democrats are hoping for a Senate vote Friday so the House can approve changes and President Joe Biden can sign it by March 14. Stimulus money could start rolling out before the ink is dry.
  • It is "premature" to think that the pandemic might be stopped by the end of 2021, the emergencies chief of the World Health Organization said. Dr. Michael Ryan said at a press briefing Monday that the world’s singular focus right now should be to keep transmission of COVID-19 as low as possible. And President Joe Biden's top public health officials warned Monday that the U.S. could "lose the hard-earned ground we have gained" if cases plateau at their current level.
  • The National Fraternal Order of Police reports that 439 law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty due to COVID-19. Texas, with 105, has the highest death toll of officers on the FOP list.
  • Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says his country and Denmark will stop relying solely on the European Union for vaccines and will work with Israel to produce second-generation vaccines. The EU has faced criticism for its slow vaccine rollout while Israel is a world-leader in per-capita vaccinations.
  • Known variant cases quintupled from 471 to 2,463 in February, even as total coronavirus infections were dropping from a peak in January.
  • Many states prioritized COVID-19 vaccines for people over 75, then moved to those over 65, but they shouldn't keep stepping down by age, an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. 
  • Apple has reopened all 270 of its stores across the U.S. as the effort to vaccinate more Americans against COVID-19 accelerates.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 28.6 million COVID-19 cases and 515,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 114.6 million cases and more than 2.5 million deaths. More than 15% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and nearly 8% of people have received both doses, according to the CDC.

See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck

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