US buys 100mn additional doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine 2 minutes read
Washington, Dec 23 (efe-epa).- The United States has reached an agreement with Pfizer Inc. to acquire an additional 100 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine created by the pharmaceutical giant in partnership with BioNTech, officials said Wednesday.
Delivery is set for the summer of 2021, according to a statement from Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s initiative to expedite development and distribution of a vaccine against the illness that has already killed nearly 323,000 people in the US.
The deal brings to 200 million the number of doses of the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech drug purchased by the government, enough to inoculate 100 million people.
Cuomo calls out CDC, HHS on Covid variant: ‘Just do your job’
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
Posted Dec 23, 2020
A British Airways plane takes off from London s Heathrow Airport in October.Steve Parsons | PA via AP
Facebook Share
Albany, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo called again today for the federal government to take steps to protect the nation from a new variant of the coronavirus found spreading in the United Kingdom.
The nation should require preflight Covid testing for air travelers heading to the U.S. from the U.K., he said.
He said federal officials are repeating the mistakes of the spring, when the virus spread to the Northeast from Europe weeks before travel restrictions were imposed. He called out Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar by name.
Tennessee emerges as new COVID-19 epicenter in U S as pandemic rages investing.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from investing.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
WASHINGTON (AP) Pfizer said Wednesday it will supply the U.S. government with an additional 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine under a new agreement between the pharmaceutical giant and the Trump administration.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said that will bring their total current commitment to 200 million doses for the U.S. That should be enough to vaccinate 100 million people with the two-shot regimen. The government also has an option to purchase an additional 400 million doses.
“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,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in a statement. The cost to taxpayers: $1.95 billion for the additional 100 million doses.
“More good news about COVID-19 therapeutics is constantly emerging and President Trump’s commitment to supporting life saving therapeutics has already helped deliver hundreds of thousands of Operation Warp Speed-supplied therapeutics to the frontlines,” Mr. Azar said.
HHS and the Department of Defense provided Merck with about $356 million in funding to allow for the development of MK-7110 and delivery of up to 100,000 doses by June 2021. If the Food and Drug Administration determines MK-7110 meets the criteria for emergency use authorization, doses will be packed and ready to ship in the first half of 2021.
Clinical trials indicated that patients who received the MK-7110 therapeutic had a 60% greater chance of clinical recovery than those who received a placebo. A preliminary analysis indicates the treatment could reduce the risk of respiratory failure or death by 50% compared to the standard of care, Pentagon officials said.