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Covid-19 vaccine updates
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The U.S. government purchases 200 million additional doses of the BioNTech / Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, bringing its total order to 500 million, as authorities prepare for the next phase of vaccination, including children under 12 and potential booster injections.
The doses of the messenger RNA injections – which will be delivered between October and April next year – will either be the current formulation or the one that has been adapted to the variants of the coronavirus. The companies are testing whether a shot suitable for the Delta variant is more effective in studies due to start next month.
A Biden administration official familiar with the contract said the government was exercising an option to purchase the 200 million doses “to prepare for future immunization needs, including vaccines for children under 12 and possible reminders if studies show that they are necessary “.
“It is important to note that as part of the deal, Pfizer will provide the United States with 65 million pediatric doses if Pfizer’s vaccine is approved for children under the age of 12, including doses available immediately after authorization. Administration official Biden told the Financial Times.
Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, said on Friday that the additional purchase would allow “wide access” to vaccines in the United States.
“As the US government’s long-term partner in the fight against this pandemic, we are proud of the impact of immunization efforts across the country. Vaccines have been and will remain essential in protecting lives against this devastating disease, ”he said.
Pfizer has assessed that people who have already received the full two-shot regimen will likely need a third injection, although US public health officials have been reluctant to embark on a booster program.
The UK prepares for a recall program for the most vulnerable, as its scientists examine emerging evidence. The EU has also made a big bet on continued use of the Pfizer vaccine, with an order of up to $ 1.8 billion to be delivered by 2023.
The companies are considering applying for an emergency use authorization in the United States to have their injection used as a third dose. Analysts predict that a market for boosters could be worth tens of billions of dollars.
About 60 percent of U.S. adults are fully immunized, and although vaccines are widely available, officials have struggled to overcome high levels of reluctance to immunize.
The cases of Covid-19 in the United States were in sharp decline since the country launched a mass vaccination campaign in the spring. However, infections started to rise again last week, especially among the unvaccinated, as the contagious Delta variant sweeps the country.
“I think they’re having a really hard time modeling this and they don’t know where we are in this wave of infection,” Scott Gottleib, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC.
“I think we are dramatically underestimating how many infections are already underway in the United States and where we are in this epidemic wave. I think we are probably further ahead than we are currently measuring. “
Gottleib noted that the CDC’s estimates of the number of new Delta-related cases diagnosed in the United States varied widely, suggesting the agency is struggling to get a clear idea of the scale of the new outbreak and the protection. fully immunized Americans.
“I think we also have a hard time measuring what are the components of immunity and the durability of immunity,” he added.
In addition, the US government has already ordered 500 million doses of Pfizer at non-profit prices to be supplied to developing countries in 2022 and 2023, through the Covax initiative of the World Health Organization.
“Our constant goal is to deliver as many doses of our Covid-19 vaccine as possible to people around the world to help end this pandemic,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech.
But Dr Carrie Teicher, program director of Médecins Sans Frontières in the United States, said officials should ‘move mountains’ to ensure available doses protect healthcare workers and vulnerable people in countries. low and middle income, without investing prematurely in recall programs.
“Leaders of governments like the United States, which have already vaccinated far beyond the most vulnerable, must stop and examine this dramatic global imbalance in vaccine access before offering boosters to those vaccinated.” , she said.
Pfizer and BioNTech were the first to gain approval for their Covid vaccine in many countries, including the US and UK, and more recently, the first to gain approval for use in adolescents.
They capitalized on their early success and high efficiency rate by rapidly expanding their manufacturing facilities to enable them to sign large contracts for years to come.
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