WASHINGTON, D.C. (KXAN) — While Pres. Donald Trump is reportedly planning to sign an executive order to prioritize COVID-19 vaccination in the U.S. before sending it overseas, administration officials reportedly passed on receiving more doses over the summer.
And this could delay mass availability until June of next year, sources close to the matter told the New York Times.
The U.S. will receive 100 million doses of the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech treatment — which will only be enough to vaccinate 50 million people.
While the Pfizer vaccine could possibly be approved for emergency use within the next week, the European Union has already entered into a contract with the makers for 200 million doses. The first batches of the vaccine were already delivered to the U.K. on Sunday.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services responded, saying “We are confident that we will have 100 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine as agreed to in our contract, and beyond that, we have five other vaccine candidates.”
Pfizer said additional doses beyond the 100 million already agreed upon is subject to another agreement, but declined to comment on any current negotiations.