Washington, December 14: The US pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer is in talks with the US government for supplying 100 Million additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine it developed in collaboration with the German biotech firm BioNTech. Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla said on Monday that the drugmaker has not yet signed an agreement with the United States on providing 100 million more coronavirus vaccine doses in 2021, in an interview to CNN. Singapore Approves Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine, First Shipment Expected by End of December, Says PM Lee Hsien Loong.
Bourla said that his company is still negotiating with the US government on whether it will be able to deliver the vaccine in the second or third quarter of 2021. “The U.S. government is asking for more. They have asked now for an additional 100 million doses from us,” Bourla said. He added that the government wants the doses in the second quarter itself. Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine: Donald Trump, Mike Pence & Top US Officials to be Offered Early Access to Newly Approved Vaccine.
However, he said that his firm can provide the doses only by third quarter of 2021. But Pfizer is looking for ways to accommodate their demand. “We can provide them the additional 100 million doses, but right now most of that we can provide in the third quarter,” he told the news channel. “The U.S. government wants them in the second quarter so are working very collaboratively with them to make sure that we can find ways to produce more or allocate the doses in the second quarter,” he said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2020 07:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).