US secures 105 million doses of Pfizer vaccine for fall

US secures 105 million doses of Pfizer vaccine for fall

White House officials have previously said that without new funding from the US Congress, future Covid vaccines might only be given for free to those at highest risk
White House officials have previously said that without new funding from the US Congress, future Covid vaccines might only be given for free to those at highest risk. Photo: JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Follow Briefly News on Twitter and never miss the hottest topics! Find us at @brieflyza!

The United States on Wednesday announced an agreement with Pfizer and BioNTech for 105 million doses of Covid vaccine for Americans this fall.

The $3.2 billion contract, signed between the companies and the US health and defense departments, includes vaccines for babies, young children, teens and adults, and may include Omicron-specific vaccines, which a panel of government experts recommended on Tuesday.

Delivery will begin in late summer and continue into the fourth quarter, the companies said. The contract gives the US the option to procure up to 300 million doses.

"The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to doing everything we can to continue to make vaccines free and widely available to Americans – and this is an important first step to preparing us for the fall," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Read also

Security tight in Eswatini on protest anniversary

President Joe Biden's administration has asked Congress for $23.5 billion in additional Covid funding, but a bill has not yet been passed.

As a result, the federal government "was forced to reallocate $10 billion in existing funding, pulling billions of dollars from Covid-19 response efforts" the statement said, with the new vaccines procured through this reallocation.

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly News on your News Feed!

White House officials have previously said that without new funding, future vaccines might only be given for free to those at highest risk.

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.