The United States orders an additional 200 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

Pfizer said in a statement that these new doses will bring total orders from the United States to its residents to 500 million doses.

Pfizer said Friday, July 23 that the United States will buy an additional 200 million doses of the vaccine made by the Pfizer-BioNTech alliance, and has prepared itself for a vaccine against the variants.

The company said in a press release that these new doses will raise total orders from the United States to its residents to 500 million doses.

Variable vaccine option

In detail, 110 million of these additional doses must be delivered by December 31, and the remaining 90 million by April 30, 2022.

The US has also placed a purchase option on a subsequent version of the vaccine, “taking into account potential variants,” as well as new formulations of the vaccine, “if they are available and licensed” by health authorities, Pfizer specifies.

Reminders if necessary for vaccination

The Pfizer-BioNTech alliance said in early July that it intended to request “in the coming weeks” permission for a third dose of its vaccine, in the US and Europe in particular, after “encouraging results”, to increase the effectiveness of the vaccine.

US health officials responded cautiously, saying that “fully vaccinated Americans do not need a booster dose at this time” but said they were prepared to “administer booster doses if and when science proves they are necessary.”

The worldwide spread of the delta type, which first appeared in India and is most contagious since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, is causing pollution to rise sharply.