White House 'opted not to buy millions of additional doses of Pfizer vaccine'

The Trump administration opted last summer not to buy millions of additional doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, a decision that could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until the American manufacturer has fulfilled its orders to other countries.

The revelation, reported by the Associated Press on Monday, came a day before President Trump will aim to take credit for the speedy development of forthcoming coronavirus vaccines at a White House summit on Tuesday.

Pfizer's vaccine is expected to be approved by a panel of Food and Drug Administration scientists as soon as this week, with delivery of 100 million doses – enough for 50 million Americans – expected in coming months.

Under its contract with Pfizer, the Trump administration committed to buy an initial 100 million doses, with an option to purchase as many as five times more.

But in the summer the White House opted not to lock in an additional 100 million doses for delivery in the second quarter of 2021, according to people who spoke to AP about the matter on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss it publicly.

Days ahead of the vaccine's expected approval, the administration is reversing course, but it is not clear that Pfizer, which has since made commitments to other countries, will be able to meet the latest request in time.

The Pfizer vaccine is one of two on track for emergency FDA authorisation this month, the other coming from drugmaker Moderna.

The Trump administration insisted on Monday that between those two vaccines and others in the pipeline, the US will be able to accommodate any American who wants to be vaccinated by the end of the second quarter of 2021.

The administration's decision not to lock in additional Pfizer purchases last summer was first reported by The New York Times.

The UK has already approved the Pfizer vaccine and will begin inoculating people on Tuesday.

Alex Azar, the US Health and Human Services Secretary, told NBC that the administration is "continuing to work across manufacturers to expand the availability of releasable, of FDA-approved vaccine as quickly as possible. We do still have that option for an additional 500 million doses."

Seeking to quieten public scepticism over the vaccine and secure a key component of Mr Trump's legacy, Tuesday's summit will highlight the administration's plans to distribute and administer the vaccine. But officials from President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, which will oversee the bulk of the largest vaccination program in the nation's history once he takes office January 20, were not invited.

The "Operation Warp Speed" summit will feature Mr Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a host of government experts, state leaders and business executives, as the White House looks to explain that the vaccine is safe and lay out the administration's plans to bring it to the American people.

Senior administration officials provided details on the summit on Monday. An official with the Biden transition confirmed that no invitation was extended.

Officials from the pharmaceutical companies developing the vaccines also were not expected to attend, despite receiving invitations, according to people familiar with the matter. Some expressed concerns about the event contributing to the politicisation of the vaccine development process and potentially further inhibiting public confidence in the drugs.

Mr Trump is set to sign an executive order to prioritise Americans for coronavirus vaccines procured by the federal government. An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the order would restrict the US government from donating doses to other nations until there is excess supply to meet domestic demand.

It was not immediately clear what, if any, impact the order would have on other nations' abilities to access the vaccines. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he expects his country to receive about 250,000 doses of a vaccine from Pfizer by the end of the year.

Approval of the vaccine would come at a critical time for the US. On Monday, the latest figures showed that more than 283,000 Americans have been killed by the virus and there have been average of nearly 200,000 new cases reported each day in the past week.

The Food and Drug Administration is to meet on Thursday to conduct a final review of the Pfizer drug, and it will meet later this month to consider a vaccine developed by Moderna. Both have been determined to be 95 per cent effective against the virus that causes Covid-19. Plans call for distributing and then administering about 40 million doses of the two companies' vaccines by the end of the year – with the first doses shipping within hours of FDA clearance.

Mr Biden said on Friday that "there's no detailed plan that we've seen" for how to get the vaccines out of containers, into syringes and then into people's arms.

Trump administration officials insist that such plans have been developed, with the bulk of the work falling to states and municipal governments to ensure their most vulnerable populations are vaccinated first.

The administration says it has struck partnerships with manufacturers, distributors and health care providers, so that outside of settings like veterans' hospitals, "it is highly unlikely that a single federal employee will touch a dose of vaccine before it goes into your arm."

In all, about 50,000 vaccination sites are enrolled in the government's distribution system, the officials said.