The U.S. government is close to a deal with Pfizer for an additional 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, sources told CNBC’s Meg Tirrell on Tuesday.
According to a source, the deal could be announced on Wednesday. The New York Times was the first to report the news.
Pfizer declined to comment, saying the company “is unable to comment on any confidential discussions that may be taking place with the US government.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The news comes after Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla told CNBC last week that the company was negotiating with the federal government to provide 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses next year.
Pfizer and the US are working on timing details, Bourla told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in an interview on Dec. 14. The company could provide many of those doses in the third quarter of 2021, but the US government is pushing. in the second quarter, he said.
“We’re working very together to find a solution and allocate that 100 million [doses] in the second quarter if possible or many of them, ”said Bourla, adding that the company had not yet signed an agreement with the US.
Unlike other drug manufacturers, Pfizer did not accept federal funding to help develop or manufacture its vaccine. Pfizer already has a deal with the US government to deliver 100 million doses of the vaccine as part of Operation Warp Speed, enough to inoculate 50 million people. Under the agreement, Americans will get the vaccine for free.
Initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine are limited as production increases, and officials predict it will take months to immunize anyone in the US who wants to be vaccinated. The US shipped 2.9 million doses of the vaccine last week and plans to ship 2 million doses of that vaccine this week, according to Army General Gustave Perna, who oversees logistics for Operation Warp Speed.
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer’s vaccination target of 50 million doses worldwide by the end of the year was only half of the 100 million originally planned. In a statement, Pfizer said there were several factors influencing the estimated number of doses, including scaling a vaccine at an “unprecedented” rate.
The U.S. government has criticized Pfizer in recent weeks, saying the drug manufacturer has kept federal officials at bay during the manufacturing process of its vaccine.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar told CNBC on Thursday that he would like the federal government’s relationship with Pfizer to change.
“They’re part of Operation Warp Speed, but … it’s a different relationship” than the government’s agreements with Moderna and other drug companies that have received federal funding, Azar told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We contract, give [Pfizer] a guaranteed purchase, which allows them to make capital investment, have a predictable buyer, but we don’t have a full view of their manufacturing because they kept that a little bit more poor. “