U.S. Reaches Deal With Pfizer For 100 Million More Vaccine Doses

НОВОРОССИЯ.RU
23 Дек 2020, 17:27

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A Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot was ready to be administered last week. The U.S. government has reached a deal with Pfizer to purchase 100 million more vaccine doses.

Andrew Harnik/AP

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Andrew Harnik/AP

A Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot was ready to be administered last week. The U.S. government has reached a deal with Pfizer to purchase 100 million more vaccine doses.

Andrew Harnik/AP

The Trump administration says it has reached a deal with Pfizer to buy an additional 100 million doses of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, effectively doubling the federal government’s supply from Pfizer.

The pharmaceutical giant is to deliver 70 million doses by June 30, 2021, and complete the rest of the order by the end of the following month, according to a statement released Wednesday morning by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Pfizer said the U.S. government has agreed to pay $1.95 billion for the additional doses of its vaccine, which was developed jointly with BioNTech.

«Securing more doses from Pfizer and BioNTech for delivery in the second quarter of 2021 further expands our supply of doses across the Operation Warp Speed portfolio,» HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. «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.»

Earlier this month, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first to get the greenlight for widespread use in the U.S., kicking off a massive vaccination campaign. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has since authorized the use of a COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna.

«The additional doses ordered today provide for a seamless transition from the first 100 million doses contracted earlier this year,» HHS said, adding that the agreement includes the option to buy 400 million more vaccine doses.