BRIEF—US govt buys more doses of Comirnaty

The US government has purchased 50 million more doses of Comirnaty, the COVID-19 vaccine developed and marketed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The US will receive these additional doses to continue to support preparedness for pediatric vaccinations, including securing vaccines for children under five years of age, should they receive regulatory authorization. The companies expect to deliver all these doses by April 30, 2022.

With this order, the US government has exercised its final purchase option under its existing US supply agreement with the companies, bringing the total number of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses secured under the agreement since the start of the pandemic to 600 million – spanning doses for adults and adolescents, and children. Separately, Pfizer and BioNTech have agreed to provide a total of 1 biilion doses to the US government at a not-for-profit price for donation to low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Commitment to global vaccine access

In total, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to manufacture 3 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine worldwide in 2021, which includes pediatric doses.

In 2022, the companies expect to manufacture 4 billion doses worldwide, which also includes pediatric doses.

The companies do not expect the introduction of pediatric doses in the USA to impact the existing supply agreements in place with governments and international health organizations around the world.