Daily US Times: Pfizer said on Wednesday that it will supply the US government with an additional 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine under a new agreement between the Trump administration and the pharmaceutical giant.
Pfizer said that will bring their total current commitment to 200 million doses for the country. That should be enough to vaccinate 100 million Americans with the two-shot regimen. The government also has an option to purchase an additional 400 million doses.
In a statement, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said: “This new federal purchase can give Americans even more confidence that we will have enough supply to vaccinate every American who wants it by June 2021.”
To aid vaccine production, the US government said it is using its authority under a Cold War-era law that allows it to direct private manufacturing.
Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine was the first to be approved for emergency use by the FDA. It has now been joined by vaccine from Moderna, developed in close collaboration with the National Institutes of Health. Last week, US government began shipping the Pfizer vaccine to states, and the one from Moderna this week.
The priority groups for first vaccination include nursing home resident and health care workers. Gradually more Americans will have access to the free vaccines, which have been shown to be highly effective in clinical studies undertaken so far.
US has recorded more deaths and infections than anywhere in the world.
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