(Newer)
– The money now stops with President Biden on the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine – and he pledged on Tuesday to ramp up supply and “supply enough vaccine to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of summer, early fall.” ” Biden said the federal government plans to purchase an additional 200 million doses of vaccine – 100 each from Moderna and Pfizer, bringing the total supply to 600 million, Politico reports. Both vaccines are two-dose regimens. There are currently only about 260 million Americans who are eligible to be vaccinated, but the number could increase depending on the results of the Moderna and Pfizer clinical trials for children as young as 12 years old. Washington Post. Authorities say that despite the additional order, the limited production capacity means an increase in immediate supplies is unlikely before April, according to the New York Times.
This allows millions of Americans to be vaccinated earlier than previously expected, said the president, describing the push as a “war effort.” Biden also announced that there would be a 16% increase in vaccine doses to the states in the next three weeks following complaints of major shortages, the AP reports. In taking office, Biden initially pledged to vaccinate 100 million Americans in 100 days, but experts said the pace would need to be doubled to bring things back to near normal by the end of the summer. Biden also said on Tuesday that state governors will now be notified of the vaccine allocation three weeks before the delivery. “Until now, we had to guess how much vaccine each week,” he said. ‘This is unacceptable. Lives are at stake. ‘ (Read more stories about coronavirus vaccines.)