Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson is looking to produce a billion coronavirus vaccines for next year, according to Dr. Paul Stoffels, the company’s chief scientific officer.
“We start clinical trials in September and hopefully have data by the end of the year,” Stoffels said Sunday on ABC, adding that the company is “now working towards one billion vaccines for next year.”
Johnson & Johnson is upscaling manufacturing and will start producing the vaccine later this year, he said.
Stoffels said “clinical trials will need to be done to show that it is effective, and that will take some time.”
He added: “We will have some vaccine available this year, but it will depend on the authorities – the FDA and others – to decide whether it can be used earlier, before efficacy data are available.”
