The Trump administration placed an initial $1.95 billion order for 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine with Pfizer and can acquire an additional 500 million doses.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced in a joint statement that they secured “an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense to meet the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed program goal to begin delivering 300 million doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 in 2021.” The BNT162 program is based on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology and supported by Pfizer’s global vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities. The BNT162 vaccine candidates are undergoing clinical studies and aren’t currently approved for distribution anywhere in the world.
“Under the agreement, the U.S. government will receive 100 million doses of BNT162, the COVID-19 vaccine candidate jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, after Pfizer successfully manufactures and obtains approval or emergency use authorization from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” the statement said. “Americans will receive the vaccine for free consistent with U.S. government’s commitment for free access for COVID-19 vaccines.”
HHS Secretary Alex Azar said, “Expanding Operation Warp Speed’s diverse portfolio by adding a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech increases the odds that we will have a safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year. Depending on success in clinical trials, today’s agreement will enable the delivery of approximately 100 million doses of this vaccine to the American people.”
The Wall Street Journal added:
The BNT162 program is based on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology and supported by Pfizer’s global vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities. The BNT162 vaccine candidates are undergoing clinical studies and aren’t currently approved for distribution anywhere in the world.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine development program is evaluating at least four experimental vaccines. If the studies are successful, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to seek emergency use authorization or some form of regulatory approval as early as October.
The announcement comes as the world continues to struggle with containing the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China.
Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told ABC News on Wednesday that it was “very hard to predict” how bad the pandemic could get. Redfield said that wearing a face mask was the most powerful tool that Americans have to combat the pandemic.
.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: @CDCDirector Dr. Robert Redfield on how bad the COVID-19 crisis could get. “It is very hard to predict.”https://t.co/aQQ6s3kY6z pic.twitter.com/PbiMPVNNHQ
— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 22, 2020
President Donald Trump urged Americans to wear face masks this week, saying, “We’re asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask, get a mask. Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They’ll have an effect. And we need everything we can get.”
In a tweet, Trump said, “We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!”
We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President! pic.twitter.com/iQOd1whktN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2020
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