STORM WATCH

Pockets of heavy rain continue with temps set to tumble overnight

New York Times report: Trump administration turned down additional doses of Pfizer vaccine

The New York Times reported Monday that the Trump administration turned down additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

News 12 Staff

Dec 8, 2020, 3:25 AM

Updated 1,464 days ago

Share:

The New York Times reported Monday that the Trump administration turned down additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
News 12 reached out to Pfizer, which would only confirm the U.S. government placed an initial order of 100 million doses.
That's only enough to vaccinate about 50 million people with two doses each - which is 15% of America's population.
"Any additional doses beyond the 100 million are subject to a separate and mutually-acceptable agreement. The company is not able to comment on any confidential discussions that may be taking place with the U.S. government," Pfizer said in a statement.
The company also said, "Recognizing the urgency of the need, their manufacturing teams have been working around the clock so they can bring the vaccine to the world as quickly as possible."
The European Union announced that it had finalized a deal for 200 million doses.
The Associated Press also reported Monday that sources confirmed the Trump administered opted not to lock in a chance to buy millions more doses.
Earlier, the nation's infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke about the importance of educating people about the safety of the vaccine, saying that if 80% of people were to get vaccinated, the level of community spread would decrease significantly.
The FDA is holding its hearing Thursday to possibly give Pfizer emergency use approval to roll out the vaccine.
New York expects to receive 170,000 doses on Dec. 15.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.