The Trump Administration ’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ Has Spent $12.4 Billion on Vaccines. How Much Is That, Really?

In mid-July, the U.S. federal government made an agreement with Pfizer, one of several pharmaceutical companies working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. The $1.95 billion deal would finance the production and nationwide delivery of 100 million doses of the vaccine, should it be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. That approval came on Dec. 11, when the Pifzer vaccine, co-developed with German biotechnology firm BioNTech, became the first in the U.S. to receive emergency use authorization from the FDA. The first batches are now being distributed, per that July agreement. But in the days leading up to the authorization, revelations about the terms of that initial deal raised questions about why the government did not agree to secure more than 100 million doses, which, because recipients need two doses spaced three weeks apart, is only enough to inoculate 50 million of the country’s roughly 328 million residents, at most. The New York Times reported on Dec. 7 that the U.S. declined Pfizer’s offers for additional doses. The company went on to ink contracts with other governments, including the European Union, which secured 200 million doses. On Dec. 8, Pfizer board member and former FDA head Scott Gottlieb confirmed the Times’ reporting on CNBC. In response to that reporting, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has pointed out that the U.S. has several irons in the vaccine fire. The federal government has investe...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 UnitedWeRise20Disaster Source Type: news