Pfizer says it has second dose of COVID-19 on hand and expects no supply issues in United States

(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc has kept second doses for each of its COVID-19 vaccinations at the request of the federal government and does not anticipate any problems providing them to Americans, a spokeswoman said in a statement on Friday.

Pfizer’s comments contradict a Washington Post report that the federal government ran out of its vaccine supply at the end of December and has no more supply of doses on hand.

“Operation Warp Speed ​​required us to start shipping second doses only recently,” the spokesperson said. “As a result, we have all second doses from previous shipments to the United States on hand.”

The US Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment.

Pfizer has shipped more than 15 million doses to destinations in the United States, primarily from its Michigan facility, and expects to be able to produce around 2 billion doses globally by 2021, the spokesperson said.

However, the United States struggled to administer the injections that were distributed. Only about 12 million of the more than 31 million doses that have been shipped have been administered, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Scattered vaccine shortages were reported on Friday on the frontlines of the US battle against the coronavirus pandemic, prompting at least one major healthcare system to cancel a series of appointments of people hoping to be vaccinated.

Earlier on Friday, Pfizer announced that there would be a temporary impact on shipments to European countries from late January to early February due to changes in manufacturing processes to boost production. [L1N2JQ0V3]

About nine of the 27 governments in the European Union complained of “insufficient” doses at a meeting this week, a participant said.