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 The Trump administration is confident it will have enough vaccine to
inoculate everyone who wants a vaccine by the end of the second
quarter of 2021, one official said, disputing a New York Times story
that the government declined when Pfizer Inc offered in late summer
to sell more vaccine doses to the United States.
Trump, who has faced sharp criticism for his handling of the
coronavirus pandemic, is eager to take credit for the speedy
development and distribution of a vaccine.
One official said the executive order would lead to the formulation
of guidelines for U.S. government agencies to help other countries
procure the vaccine once demand in the United States was met.
It was unclear why an executive order was needed to ensure that the
vaccines would be distributed domestically first, though the order
appeared to be designed in part to underscore Trump's "America
First" philosophy ahead of the incoming administration of
President-elect Joe Biden.
The White House is holding a summit on Tuesday to explain plans for
vaccine distribution through Trump's Operation Warp Speed, which has
been organizing the effort. Trump and other officials will speak.
Vaccine developers Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc will not attend.
A White House official said the companies were not coming because
they had active applications pending before the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration. A senior FDA official, Dr. Peter Marks, is scheduled
to address the Tuesday event.
Invitees at the meeting include drug distributors, pharmacies and
logistics companies such as McKesson Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance
Inc, CVS Health Corp, United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp.
The New York Times reported that Pfizer may not be able to provide
more of its vaccine to the United States until next June because of
its commitments to other countries.
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An administration official noted that Pfizer's vaccine was still in clinical
trials last summer and that the government secured advanced deals to acquire
multiple other vaccine candidates.
"Anyone who wanted to sell us, guaranteed without an EUA (FDA emergency use
authorization) approval, hundreds of millions of doses back in July and August
was just not going to get the government's money," the person added.
About 85 percent of long-term care and assisted living facilities around the
country had signed up for a mobile vaccination service provided by CVS and
Walgreens, the official said. The U.S. government was concerned about cyber
attacks related to the vaccine and had protected itself against them, he added.
Pfizer spokeswoman Sharon Castillo said: "The U.S. government placed an initial
order of 100 million doses for Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, and Pfizer is
ready to begin shipping initial doses soon after receiving an Emergency Use
Authorization from the FDA. Any additional doses beyond the 100 million are
subject to a separate and mutually acceptable agreement."
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told NBC News the U.S. government
had the option to purchase an additional 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine
but declined to say whether the administration was pursuing that option.
Representatives from Democratic President-elect Biden's transition team were not
invited to the summit. Trump, a Republican who lost the Nov. 3 election to Biden,
has refused to concede.
(This story refiles to inserts dropped word 'million' in paragraph 15)
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Carl O'Donnell and Dania
Nadeem; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Stephen Coates)
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