Washington, December 23: Pfizer is reportedly close to inking a deal with the US government to supply at least tens of millions of additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in 2021 in exchange for a government directive giving it better access to manufacturing supplies. This was reported in the New York Times, which further said that the agreement could be announced as early as Wednesday.

The US government had signed a deal with Pfizer for 100 million doses of its vaccine, which has started being rolled out across the country. According to the new agreement, the government is asking for 100 million additional doses from Pfizer from April through June. Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 Vaccine Approved for Emergency Use by US Food and Drug Administration Amid Rising Coronavirus Cases.

Pfizer Nears Deal With US Government to Supply Additional COVID-19 Vaccine Doses

In return, Pfizer wants the government to invoke the Defense Production Act to give the company better access to roughly nine specialised products it needs to make the vaccine.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 23, 2020 07:52 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).