(Newser)
– The ball now stops with President Biden at the launch of the coronavirus vaccine – and he promised on Tuesday to increase supplies and provide “enough vaccine to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer, early fall”. Biden said the federal government is planning to buy an additional 200 million doses of the vaccine – 100 from Moderna and Pfizer each, bringing the total supply to 600 million, reports Politico. Both vaccines are two-dose regimens. There are currently only about 260 million Americans considered eligible to be vaccinated, but the number may increase depending on the results of Moderna and Pfizer clinical tests for children aged 12 and up, reports the Washington Post. Authorities say that despite the extra order, limited manufacturing capacity means that an increase in immediate supply is unlikely before April, according to New York Times.
“This will allow millions of Americans to be vaccinated earlier than previously anticipated,” said the president, who described the pressure as a “war effort”. Biden also announced that there would be a 16% increase in vaccine doses sent to states in the next three weeks after complaints of severe shortages, reports the AP. Upon taking office, Biden initially promised to vaccinate 100 million Americans in 100 days, but experts said the pace would have to be doubled for things to return to normal by the end of the summer. Biden also said on Tuesday that state governors will be informed of the distribution of vaccines three weeks before delivery. “Until now, we had to guess the amount of vaccine” each week, he said. “This is unacceptable. Lives are at stake.” (Read more coronavirus vaccine stories.)