This is great news for Americans on the Covid-19 front: "We are on our way to have enough vaccines available for all adults in America by the end of May," said Tuesday, May 2 President Joe Biden.
Three weeks ago, he promised a deadline at the end of July.
"This is progress, important progress," he said, insisting, however, that this did not mean that all American adults would be vaccinated by that date.
"Having the vaccines available is not enough. We need people who inject into people's arms, into millions of American arms," he added.
Agreement between Merck and Johnson & Johnson
Joe Biden made the announcement during a brief address in which he confirmed an agreement between pharmaceutical giants Merck and Johnson & Johnson to increase production of the latter's vaccine.
"This is the kind of business-to-business collaboration we saw during World War II," he said.
The White House tenant also announced that Johnson & Johson's vaccine production centers would now operate "24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was granted emergency use approval in the country last weekend, for adults 18 years of age and older.
It has two significant logistical advantages: it can only be administered in a single dose and can be stored at refrigerator temperatures.
Johnson & Johnson has currently committed to ship 100 million doses to the United States by the end of June.
Texas restrictions lifted
For his part, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, on Tuesday announced the end of the wearing of the compulsory mask and the total reopening of businesses.
"From next Wednesday, all businesses of any type can open at 100% of their capacity," said the governor in a decree that "ends the compulsory wearing of masks throughout the state" in place since July 2020 "Thanks to medical advances in vaccines and antibody treatments, Texas now has the means to protect Texans from the virus," Abbott added.
Even if "the Covid-19 has not disappeared", the southern state of the country "is much better" than in October, when the capacity of shops was limited to 75%.
"Not the moment"
"For nearly six months, too many Texans have been denied the opportunity to work, too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills," added Greg Abbott.
"We are making sure that all businesses and families in Texas have the freedom to determine their own destiny."
Companies can, however, limit the reception capacity of their premises or set up health protocols, underlines the governor's decree.
Nearly 44,000 people have died from Covid-19 in Texas since the start of the epidemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
On Monday, the director of the American Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the country's main federal public health agency, warned against any slackening, especially on wearing a mask.
"I am very worried by reports that more and more States are lifting precisely the measures we have recommended to protect people," Rochelle Walensky said at a press briefing.
"Now is not the time to relax critical devices that we know can stop the spread of Covid-19."
With AFP
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