Developers of coronavirus vaccines on Tuesday told House members they plan to drastically increase deliveries in the coming weeks.
Executives at Pfizer and Moderna, the only two companies to date to have received emergency authorization for vaccines from the U.S. government, said they will be able to administer more than 130 million additional doses combined by the end of March.
The companies said they no longer face a shortage of raw materials and have largely solved the manufacturing challenges that limited initial production and resulted in bottlenecks as demand has far exceeded the offer.
Altogether, the two companies have contracts to provide 600 million doses, which they say will be ready by the end of July. Of all the companies the United States has contracts with, both the Trump and Biden administrations have secured enough pre-ordered doses to vaccinate the entire American population almost twice.
“Some of the companies out there today are still short of the number of doses they promised to deliver initially when they testified before this subcommittee in July,” Rep said. Diana DeGette
Diana Louise DeGetteHouse Democrats criticize Texas’ “lack of preparations” in winter storms. Democrats argue Trump will re-incite violence LIVE COVERAGE: Democrats conclude case against Trump MORE (D-Colo.), Chair of the House of Energy and Commerce Oversight and Research Subcommittee.
DeGette added that “many of the companies received a significant federal investment to build their manufacturing capacity last year, even though clinical trials were ongoing.”
According to a government accountability office report last month, the Trump administration’s Warp Speed operation had forced approximately $ 13 billion into vaccine development and manufacturing, including funding to increase existing capacity.
John Young, Pfizer’s commercial director, told lawmakers the company has shipped about 40 million doses so far.
But Young said the company is on track to make a total of 120 million doses available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May.
“Because of the great need to vaccinate more people, we have increased dose production,” he said, noting that the company has invested significantly in domestic manufacturing centers.
The investment is necessary because the company will have to increase its deliveries from approximately 4 million to 5 million weekly doses in early February to more than 13 million weekly doses in mid-March.
Johnson & Johnson, which has not yet received emergency clearance for its vaccine, said it plans to have enough doses for more than 20 million Americans by the end of March.
This vaccine, unlike those from Pfizer and Moderna, requires only one dose, so 20 million doses would completely vaccinate so many people.
Richard Nettles, U.S. vice president of medical affairs for Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine and infectious disease unit, said the company will have 4 million doses ready to ship immediately if and when the shot is authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
An FDA advisory committee meets Friday to consider the company’s request and emergency authorization may arrive shortly thereafter.
Johnson & Johnson’s goals are more optimistic than Biden administration officials have previously acknowledged. Earlier this month, the response coordinator at the White House COVID-19 Jeff Zients
Jeff Zients: The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden on COVID-19: Next Year Americans Will Be “Better” in Overnight Health Care: CDC Study Says Double Masking Works | House Democrats propose a multimillion-dollar relief package COVID-19 | Industry groups support ObamaCare reforms proposed by Democrats The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by TikTok – Day 1 goes to Dems as GOP smokes Trump lawyers MORE said the United States expected to receive only a few “million” doses of Johnson & Johnson when it was initially discontinued.
At the same time, the Biden administration is also increasing its allocation to states.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
The road to confirmation of Jen PsakiTanden seems increasingly unsustainable The Asian and American Pacific Caucus urges senators to confirm that Tanden Biden orders flags to half the staff to mark 500,000 virus deaths MORE said Tuesday that states will now receive 14.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines a week, an increase of about one million doses a week.
Psaki said Zients made the announcement in a call to governors Tuesday morning.
However, administering vaccines is not the same as administering them. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just over 65 million doses have been administered, while 82 million doses have been administered.