Pfizer has agreed to supply the Trump administration with 100 million additional vaccine doses in a $1.95 billion deal, plugging a potentially massive shortfall for Americans
- Pfizer and BioNTech have sealed a deal with the US government to deliver 100 million more doses of its vaccine in 2021, the companies said in a statement Wednesday.
- The US will pay $1.95 billion for the doses, which will plug what could've been a large vaccine shortfall.
- Under the terms of the deal, Pfizer will supply at least 70 million doses by the end of June 2021, with the remaining 30 million doses to be delivered no later than the end of July 31.
- The US ordered 100 million doses of Pfizer's two-shot vaccine in July, but declined an additional agreement to buy more. Instead, it looked to make agreements with other manufacturers.
Pfizer and BioNTech have struck a deal with the Trump administration to supply an extra 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to the US by the end of July 2021, the companies said in a statement Wednesday.
This is the second agreement the US government has made with Pfizer, bringing the total number of ordered doses of the vaccine to 200 million.
Under the terms of the deal, the companies will supply at least 70 million doses by the end of June 2021, with the remaining 30 million doses to be delivered no later than the end of July 31.
The government would pay $1.95 billion for the additional 100 million doses, the companies said, which is the same price it paid for the original 100 million Pfizer doses in a deal agreed in July.
Pfizer and BioNTech said the government also has the option to acquire up to 400 million more doses of the vaccine.
In a report by The New York Times Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said a deal would grant Pfizer better access to manufacturing supplies through the Defense Production Act.
This access would help Pfizer to acquire the nine specialized products it needs to make the vaccine, the people said.
The deal will help offset a vaccine shortage that could leave up to 110 million Americans unprotected for the first half of 2021, the Times reported.
The US ordered 100 million doses of Pfizer's two-shot vaccine for $1.95 billion in July - enough to vaccinate 50 million people - but the Trump administration declined an additional agreement to buy a second batch of the vaccine in late summer.
Instead, the government looked to make agreements with up to six other manufacturers.
Pfizer officials first started asking Gen. Gustave F. Perna, the chief operating officer of the US's Operation Warp Speed program, for help in accessing supplies in September and have been unhappy about the lack of response, according to documents seen by Times.
One person familiar with the matter told the Times that if the government had agreed to prioritize Pfizer's supply needs earlier, the company would now be more likely to fully meet the Trump administration's demands.
Other drugmakers, including Moderna, used federal money for research and development of their vaccines, but Pfizer did not.
The government has not prioritized supplies for Pfizer because it wanted to protect its investment in the other companies under Warp Speed's umbrella, the people told the Times.
A senior official from the Trump administration told the Times the government had avoided helping Pfizer because the drugmaker refused to promise that it would use the materials to make vaccines solely for American citizens.
"It's our obligation under that type of priority rating to make sure that assets are used only for US sales or production," the official said. "They weren't willing to do that."
Pfizer's vaccine, which is 95% effective, is one of two vaccines which the FDA has authorized so far. The second is Moderna's shot.