As the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed that they have a COVID-19 vaccine supply issue with Pfizer, the American pharmaceutical giant said that millions of unclaimed vaccines are sitting in their warehouse as they are still waiting for instructions as to where to send the shipments.
Pfizer made its announcement via a press release on Thursday, a day after HHS Secretary Alex Azar shared that the Trump administration was working on getting more visibility into Pfizer's manufacturing processes of the COVID-19 vaccine.
It came about after the HHS said that they have problems in terms of additional vaccines for the first half of 2021.
Pfizer stated that they have continuously shared with Operation Warp Speed (OWS) and the HHS regarding their weekly meetings, every aspect of their distribution capabilities, and their production, Washington Post reported.
The COVID-19 vaccine maker also mentioned that the agencies had visited their facilities, check their production lines, and had been updated about their production planning as information become available, Reason reported.
According to Newsmax, the American pharmaceutical company also shared that they had successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that were requested by the United States government to designated locations. However, they did not receive any distribution instructions for the additional doses that they have requested.
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COVID-19 Vaccine Production Set Back
While coronavirus continues to spread all over the United States rapidly, the Trump administration is hoping to strike a deal with Pfizer in purchasing additional 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, based on some sources, the pharmaceutical company is now experiencing constraints on its supply, which complicate things for the outgoing administration.
Together with the Trump administration officials, Pfizer confirmed that there is ongoing negotiation in purchasing additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed in the middle of April and June 2021.
But the timing is reportedly a problem because while the U.S. clamors for distribution to its facilities as soon as possible, Pfizer is also juggling the current demand for the COVID-19 vaccine globally.
According to Azar, what complicates the current negotiation is Pfizer's issue with its supply chain. It is a huge obstacle to hurdle for the company to produce additional 100 million doses of COVID-19 by spring.
Azar added that the company and the federal government are currently looking at what they can contribute or do to address the issues in the production and manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine to hit the target of 100 million doses.
The secretary also shared that some options on the table involve the Defense Production Act's utilization, which will accelerate the production of several raw materials that the company needs in developing the vaccine. It will also maximize every power of the United States government in ensuring that the company will have everything that they need in fulfilling the contracts that the government needs for the people of the United States.
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