NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - The Trump administration and Pfizer are close to a deal under which the pharmaceutical company would bolster supply of its coronavirus vaccine for the United States by at least tens of millions of doses next year in exchange for a government directive giving it better access to manufacturing supplies, people familiar with the discussions said.
An agreement, which could be announced as early as Wednesday (Dec 23), would help the United States at least partly offset a looming vaccine shortage that could leave as many as 110 million adult Americans uncovered in the first half of 2021.
So far, only two pharmaceutical companies - Pfizer and Moderna - have won federal authorisation for emergency distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, and most of what they are capable of producing for the next six months has already been allocated through contracts with the United States and other governments.
NEW YORK • US distribution of Moderna s Covid-19 vaccine has begun, with more than 3,700 sites due to start receiving and administering shots as soon as today, vastly widening the roll-out started last week by Pfizer.
Amid record coronavirus infections and deaths, Moderna has already moved vaccine supplies from its manufacturing plants to warehouses.
Trucks carrying containers packed with the vaccines set out yesterday and shipments will start reaching healthcare providers as soon as today, said General Gustave Perna of the US Army.
The vaccine must travel with security guards, including US Marshals, and will be stored in locked refrigerators. US plans call for at-risk groups such as elderly people in nursing homes and medical workers to receive injections first.
DETROIT/LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (REUTERS) - The United States will recommend on Sunday (Dec 20) who will be next in line to get inoculated as the distribution of the second approved coronavirus vaccine began with shipments of Moderna Inc’s leaving warehouses for healthcare facilities across the country.
Companies and industry groups are lobbying to get their US workers classified as essential, entitled to vaccines immediately after healthcare professionals and long-term care facility residents.
Inoculation against the disease is key to safely reopening large parts of the economy and reducing the risks of illness at crowded meatpacking plants, factories and warehouses. However, confusion has broken out over who exactly is considered essential during a pandemic.
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image captionGen Gustave Perna: Please accept my personal apologies
The army general in charge of distributing Covid vaccines in the US has admitted he failed over the initial number of doses promised to states.
Gen Gustave Perna, the head of Operation Warp Speed, said he took personal responsibility for the miscommunication to state governors.
More than a dozen states have expressed alarm at a cut in the expected number.
The Pfizer-BioNTech doses are being rolled out following approval - and a Moderna vaccine is now also approved.
What did the general say?
Gen Perna apologised several times to state governors during a telephone briefing to reporters.