As reported by Moneycontrol, Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla said that the drugmaker has not yet signed a deal with the United States on manufacturing and ensuring the provision of 100 million more coronavirus vaccine doses in 2021. Bourla told CNN in an interview that Pfizer is currently in negotiations with the U.S. on with regards to its ability to deliver the vaccine in the second or third quarter of the year.
Vaccinations commenced in North Carolina, Rhode Island, Florida, Ohio and several other states. A total of 145 sites received vaccines Monday, 425 are set to receive on Tuesday and 66 on Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said. A nurse in New York City became the first person in that state – and likely the nation – to get a dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the only one so far authorized in the U.S to combat the coronavirus.
“The U.S. government is asking (for) more. They have asked now for an additional 100 million doses from us,” Bourla said, adding that these were wanted in the second quarter of 2021. “We can provide them with the additional 100 million doses, but right now most of that we can provide in the third quarter. The U.S. government wants them in the second quarter so are working very collaboratively with them to make sure that we can find ways to produce more or allocate the doses in the second quarter,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla CNN.
