By 31 July 2021, the US government is expected to get 200 million doses of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 vaccine
The entrance to Pfizer World Headquarters in Manhattan, New York. (Credit: Coolcaesar/Wikipedia.)
Pfizer and BioNTech have signed an agreement worth $1.95bn with the US government for the supply of an additional 100 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine BNT162b2.
The BNT162b2 vaccine was recently granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Likewise, the mRNA vaccine had been given authorisation to be used for protection from the novel coronavirus across the UK, Bahrain, Canada, and Switzerland.
The new supply agreement with the US government under Operation Warp Speed (OWS) takes the total number of vaccine doses to 200 million. This will enable 100 million people in the US to be vaccinated with the BNT162b2 Covid-19 vaccine.
Pfizer and BioNTech expect to fully deliver the agreed number of doses by 31 July 2021.
Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said: “With these 100 million additional doses, the United States will be able to protect more individuals and hopefully end this devastating pandemic more quickly.
“We look forward to continuing our work with the U.S. government and healthcare providers around the country.”
In July 2020, Pfizer and BioNTech signed a similar agreement to supply 100 million doses of BNT162b2 vaccine following its authorisation or approval from the FDA. As per the agreement, the US government secured an option to acquire up to an additional 500 million doses.
Under the second agreement, the pharma companies will supply at least 70 million of the additional doses by 30 June 2021. The remaining 30 million doses will be supplied to the US government no later than 31 July 2021.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said: “Securing more doses from Pfizer and BioNTech for delivery in the second quarter of 2021 further expands our supply of doses across the Operation Warp Speed portfolio.
“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.”
Under the FDA EUA, the BNT162b2 vaccine can be administered to individuals aged 16 years and older.
Built on BioNTech’s mRNA technology, the Covid-19 vaccine has been engineered to encode an optimised SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike glycoprotein, which is a target of virus neutralising antibodies.