U.S. orders 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Pfizer and BioNTech


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Pfizer and BioNTech have announced a nearly $2 billion agreement with the U.S. government for doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
Under the agreement the companies detailed on Wednesday, the U.S. will get 100 million doses of a COVID-19 candidate after it's manufactured if it receives approval or authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The U.S. will pay $1.95 billion for doses of the potential vaccine for Americans to receive for free and "also can acquire up to an additional 500 million doses," the announcement said.
"Depending on success in clinical trials, today's agreement will enable the delivery of approximately 100 million doses of this vaccine to the American people," U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said in a statement.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, recently expressed confidence in the company's coronavirus vaccine candidate, saying in an interview with Time it's "feasible" for it to potentially receive FDA approval in October "if we are lucky." On Wednesday, Pfizer and BioNTech said that depending on how studies of the vaccine go, they aim to "be ready to seek Emergency Use Authorization or some form of regulatory approval as early as October 2020." If that goes forward, they'll look to manufacture up to 100 million doses globally by the end of the year and "potentially more than 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021."
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Brendan is a staff writer at The Week. A graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in journalism, he also writes about horror films for Bloody Disgusting and has previously contributed to The Cheat Sheet, Heavy, WhatCulture, and more. He lives in New York City surrounded by Star Wars posters.
-
FDA to re-evaluate effectiveness of common nasal congestion ingredient
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
A flesh-eating bacteria is growing in numbers due to climate change
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
CDC recommends new RSV vaccine for infants under 8 months
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
U.S. health agency advises easing federal marijuana restrictions
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Medicare drug price negotiations start with 1st 10 drugs, pharmaceutical industry lawsuits
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Air pollution may be increasing antibiotic resistance, new research suggests
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
Tick bites could cause an allergy to red meat, CDC says
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
The danger of drinking too much water
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published