December 7, 2020, 2:54 pm
The New York Times is reporting that the Trump administration turned down an offer from Pfizer for additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the late summer and is now paying for it. Due to other nations readily accepting offers like this, the pharmaceutical company estimates that it won’t be able to get additional doses of the vaccine to the U.S. until June 2021.
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For some reason, the administration only ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, which is only effective as a series of two inoculations per person, meaning that the U.S. has secured enough doses for 50 million people. This is not enough to cover all 328 million people currently residing in the U.S. or even close to the number needed to achieve herd immunity.
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BREAKING—Trump WH was offered to order more than 100 mil Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses (for 50 mil people), but WH **declined to order more**. EU
ordered 200 mil instead. Now back orders means
can’t order any more Pfizer #COVID19 vaccine until June!! https://t.co/UvlPUNo0Fq
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 7, 2020
The Trump administration is now reportedly scrambling to purchase more doses from Pfizer or anyone else making a vaccine. On Tuesday, Trump will sign an executive order “to ensure that United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations,” which as long as the country doesn’t have enough for itself, seems pretty pointless.
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The U.S. will start deploying emergency doses of the vaccine as early as this weekend, though most will have to wait months longer to get their shot. How many months this will be may depend on whether Trump can actually secure more doses after trying to take all the credit for the existence of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The U.K., meanwhile, plans to launch a massive vaccine drive on Tuesday, which will make it the first nation to begin deploying doses to the public. Meanwhile, Pfizer said in a statement that the U.S. will need to make a separate deal in order to secure more of their vaccine, which will probably not have as favorable terms for the country than the original offer.
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A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services told the Times that “we have five other vaccine candidates,” but unfortunately for most of us, those candidates have not been developed as quickly as the Pfizer one. Others may also not be as effective as Pfizer’s, which has boasted a 90 percent effectiveness rate.
As states across the U.S. wrestle with out-of-control infection rates, some states are warning that travel and gathering restrictions may have to be re-implemented over the December holidays. This is a good call but as we’ve seen with Thanksgiving this year, won’t be taken well by many Americans, some of whom are taking out their frustrations on the Trump administration right now.
“The Trump administration ‘passed’ on buying more Pfizer vaccine doses? Passed?” wrote Charlotte Clymer. “Let me guess: they were saving funding for companies developing vaccines that had an active agreement with Operation Warp Speed and/or investment ties with Trump.”
“Basically, whatever you would assume is the lowest Trump and his administration would go on anything, just go even lower and you’ll be a bit closer to that bottomless low,” remarked commenter Dullahan.
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Happy holidays, America.
*First Published: December 7, 2020, 2:54 pm
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