U.S. government agrees to purchase 100 million additional Pfizer vaccines
The Department of Health and Human Services with the Department of Defense today announced they will purchase another 100 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Officials are confident that this deal will ensure that there are enough vaccines available for every American who wants one by June 2021, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said.
Under the agreement, Pfizer will manufacture and distribute the 100 million doses to government-designated locations. At least 70 million doses will be delivered by the end of June 2021, with the remaining doses to be delivered by the end of July.
The federal government and Pfizer’s agreement includes the option to purchase an additional 400 million doses of the vaccine as a part of “ongoing coordination” between the two, HHS said.
WHY THIS MATTERS
With these additional doses, HHS says it will be able to seamlessly transition from the first 100 million doses it procured earlier this