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- Pfizer will purchase 200 million vaccines nationwide two months ahead of schedule.
- CEO Albert Bourla said the United States will receive 120 million doses in the first quarter, 20 million more than originally promised.
- The FDA changed the labels on Pfizer’s vials to recognize that they contain six doses, not five.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
Pfizer will deliver 200 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to the United States two months ahead of schedule, according to the company’s chief executive.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the United States, which bought 200 million initial doses of vaccine from the company last year, will receive the shipment two months earlier than expected after the FDA changed labels to account for “extra doses” in the vials.
Bourla, speaking at Bloomberg’s Virtual Year Ahead summit on January 26, said Pfizer will deliver 120 million doses to the United States in the first quarter, 20 million more than originally promised.
Read more: The head of human operations at Verily leaves after a huge reorganization and an exodus of senior talent. Here are the top 20 leaders and managers who left last year.
Shortly after the Food and Drug Administration cleared the emergency use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. pharmacists reported squeezing six or seven doses from vials that were supposed to contain just five.
Pfizer lobbied the FDA to change the wording of vaccine labels to recognize that the vials contained six doses, not five, The New York Times reported. This change allows Pfizer to ship fewer vials to the United States, leading Pfizer to honor promised shipments sooner than expected.
The Trump administration reportedly rejected Pfizer’s offer to buy additional doses last summer, meaning the drug company will meet its obligations to other countries before the United States can get more vaccines.
As COVID-19 cases in the United States reached record levels this winter, the Trump administration failed on its promise to inoculate 20 million Americans by 2021. The insider’s Hilary Brueck reported that most states had botched the COVID-19 vaccine rollout by creating a mishmash of policies that confused many. residents on how and when to get vaccinated.
The pace of vaccine rollout increased slightly after states began vaccinating elderly residents. Just over 3 million Americans have received the full two-dose vaccine, according to the CDC.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have started to decline, but health officials are warning Americans to be wary of new, more contagious coronavirus variants identified in some states.
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