On Thursday, President Joe Biden said his administration has finalized a deal for 200 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses. Biden said the acquisition will give the United States a total of 600 million doses, enough to inoculate 300 million people by the end of July. Biden also announced that federally run community health centers will begin receiving vaccine doses.
During a visit to the National Institutes of Health Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory, Biden said, “Just this afternoon, we signed the final contracts for 100 million more Moderna and 100 million more Pfizer vaccines.” He said the two companies also reached an agreement to expedite the delivery of 100 million vaccine doses originally scheduled to arrive in June to be delivered in May.
Last week, the administration said retail pharmacies will begin receiving direct shipments from the federal government Thursday. National pharmacy chain Rite Aid announced it will begin administering vaccines on Friday in California, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania as well as Philadelphia and New York City, which are designated as separate jurisdictions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34.72 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine to date, and 11.19 million have received two.
Editorial credit: archna nautiyal / Shutterstock.com