WASHINGTON – United States President Joe Biden yesterday said the government has signed deals to acquire 200 million more Covid-19 vaccine doses.
“Just this afternoon, we signed... final contracts for 100 million more Moderna and 100 million more Pfizer vaccines,” he said after touring the National Institutes of Health near here.
“We’re now on track to have enough supply for 300 million Americans by the end of July.”
The administration announced that it was seeking these deals last month, increasing the US vaccine supply by 50%.
The US immunisation campaign got off to a shaky start last December, but has since improved: 44.8 million shots have now reached arms, and at least 33.7 million people have received one or more doses, roughly 10% of the population.
Thousands of pharmacies were taking appointments yesterday to begin administering shots today, while the government has also used emergency legislation to ramp up vaccine production, opened mass vaccination sites at stadiums, and begun a separate programme to reach underserved communities. – AFP, February 12, 2021
