The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the United States, in partnership with the US Department of Defense, announced agreement to purchase 105 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine recently developed by Pfizer for a future vaccination campaign, along with the options for around 300 million doses.
The announcement of partnership follows a meeting held on June, 28, 2022 of US FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which recommended to include an Omicron component for Covid-19 booster vaccines in the United States.
Xavier Becerra, HHS secretary, said the covid-19 vaccine have been a game-changer in their fight against Covid-18, allowing the people of the country to return to normal activities knowing that Covid-19 vaccine protected them from serious illness. He said the administration of Joe Biden, president of the United States is committed to do everything it can to continue make the vaccines free and available widely to the people of the United States, and this is an important step in preparing them for the fall.
The contract worth 3.2 billion dollars includes a combination of pediatric and adult doses with a part of the adult doses provided as single-dose vaccines, which is a first for Covid-18 vaccines. The pending authorization of the vaccine by US FDA and a recommendation by US CDC, and HHS can possibly expect to receive the first deliveries of the Covid-19 vaccine in early fall.
