US secures a further 100 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine

The US government has secured an additional 100 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, taking the total number of doses purchased by the US to 300 million.

In July 2020, the US placed an initial order for 100 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with the option to acquire up to 500 million additional doses.

In December 2020, the US then secured an additional supply of 100 million doses of the jab.

Under the terms of the second agreement, Pfizer/BioNTech said they plan to deliver at least 70 million of the additional doses by 30 June 2021, with the remaining 30 million doses to be delivered no later than 31 July 2021.

For each 100 million doses acquired, the US has paid $1.95bn  – the most recent doses will also be acquired for the same amount of money.

“We support the new administration's plan to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible because there is an urgent need to help protect people from this virus, here in the US and across the globe,” said Albert Bourla, chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer.

"We are pleased to work with the administration to provide these additional vaccines, so that more Americans receive their first and second doses as soon as possible,” he added.

In January, US president Joe Biden unveiled plans to vaccinate 300 million people across the country by the end of summer.

The new Pfizer/BioNTech doses were acquired as part of this pledge, with the US government also having exercised an option to purchase an additional 100 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 jab earlier this month to bolster the vaccination drive in the US.

Following this new agreement, the US has now secured a total of 300 million doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Although Pfizer did not specify the exact timeline of delivery for the most recent additional 100 million doses, Moderna said in its own statement that it remains on track to deliver its first 100 million doses in the first quarter of the year.

The company added that the second order of 100 million doses will be delivered in May 2021, with the new order of 100 million doses set to be supplied before the end of July 2021.

“We appreciate the confidence that the US government has demonstrated in our COVID-19 Vaccine,” said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna.

“We continue to scale up our manufacturing capability, both in and outside of the US. Our goal is to bring our vaccine to as many people as possible around the world to help end this pandemic. It is encouraging and humbling to know that more than 22 million Americans have already been protected with Moderna’s vaccine,” he added.

The Biden administration initially pledged to vaccinate 100 million people in the president’s first 100 days in office.