Pfizer commits to doubling vaccine supply in response to President Biden's call for a quicker rollout
Carolyn Kaster/AP
- Pfizer committed to double its vaccine supply to the US government by summer, Reuters reported.
- 12.7% of Americans have received one or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, BBG data shows.
- "We're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of July," Biden said.
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On Friday, President Joe Biden secured a commitment from US pharmaceutical company Pfizer to double its COVID-19 vaccine supply to the nation, Reuters reported.
Biden has set a target to fill the country's vaccine stockpile by summer, a situation that Pfizer may have just made a reality.
Pfizer's chief executive, Albert Bourla, announced that he expects to more than double the approximately 5 million doses per week that the company provides to the US government. Per Reuters, he made the comments when the president visited one of its biggest manufacturing facilities.
Around 2.7% of the US population has already received one or more shots of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Bloomberg data.
"We're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of July," Biden said previously, according to CNN. "That doesn't mean it'll be in all Americans' arms, but enough vaccine will be available," he added.
The increase in supply has been made possible due to improvements in the manufacturing processes and better lab testing methods, Bourla said, according to the Reuters report. Biden's invocation of the US's Defense Production Act has also sped up the process, he added.
By the end of the year, Pfizer said it will add manufacturing capacity in Michigan, raw material production capacity both in Michigan and Connecticut, per Reuters. It will increase the production lines that put the vaccine into vials in Kansas, the report said. The company has also engaged two US contract manufacturers to help produce the shots.
"I can't give you a date when this crisis will end," Biden said. "But I can tell you: we're doing everything possible to have that day come sooner rather than later."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/3aAFZM4
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