President Trump will reportedly sign an executive order mandating that Americans receive the vaccine for the coronavirus first before any doses are shared with other countries.
A senior administration official told The Washington Examiner that the order will “reaffirm the position the president has held his entire administration, which is to prioritize America first.” The order is expected to be signed at a White House summit on Tuesday with pharmaceutical companies that took part in Operation Warp Speed, a Trump administration initiative to fast-track the creation and manufacturing of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Other countries may request shipments of the vaccine only after the “needs of the American people” have been met, the administration official said. “The excess supply will either be donated, or we’ll begin to work with partnering companies and countries to make sure we have the ability to help them.”
One shipment of 250,000 doses of the vaccine that has been agreed to be exported to Canada will not be affected by the order.
The drug company Moderna announced last week that, following Pfizer, it would request that the Food and Drug Administration grant its COVID-19 vaccine emergency approval. As The Daily Wire reported:
Moderna is the second pharmaceutical company to request a so-called emergency use authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 vaccine after Pfizer filed their application earlier this month. Moderna said new data showed the vaccine was 94.1% effective in its late-stage clinical trial, just under Pfizer’s efficacy rate of 95%. The Moderna vaccine was developed in conjunction with the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed.
“We believe that our vaccine will provide a new and powerful tool that may change the course of this pandemic and help prevent severe disease, hospitalizations and death,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. Bancel said last week that 20 million doses will be available by the end of the year.
The U.K. approved the vaccine by Pfizer, an American company, for emergency use on Wednesday. The approval made Pfizer’s vaccine the first approved to be given to the general public in any Western country.
“Today’s Emergency Use Authorization in the U.K. marks a historic moment in the fight against COVID-19. This authorization is a goal we have been working toward since we first declared that science will win, and we applaud the MHRA for their ability to conduct a careful assessment and take timely action to help protect the people of the U.K.,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. “As we anticipate further authorizations and approvals, we are focused on moving with the same level of urgency to safely supply a high-quality vaccine around the world. With thousands of people becoming infected, every day matters in the collective race to end this devastating pandemic.”
“The vaccine was co-developed by Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical company, and BioNTech, a biotech company based in Germany. Pfizer previously said its vaccine is 95% effective against COVID-19, and also has 94% effectiveness with adults over age 65,” The Daily Wire reported.