Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Announces Vaccine Buy That Will Boost US Supply To 600M Doses
NPR: Biden Announces Deal For 200 Million More COVID-19 Vaccines
President Biden has finalized deals to buy 200 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of July, increasing the likelihood of delivering on his promise to have all Americans inoculated by mid-summer. Biden announced the latest deals, which are part of a plan he unveiled two weeks ago, during remarks made at the National Institutes of Health on Thursday. "We've now purchased enough vaccine supplies to vaccinate all Americans," Biden said. "Now we're working to get those vaccines into the arms of millions of people." (Romo, 2/11)
AP: Biden Says US Is Securing 600 Million Vaccine Doses By July
President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. will have enough supply of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the summer to inoculate 300 million Americans. Biden made the announcement at the sprawling National Institutes of Health complex just outside Washington as he visited some of the nation’s leading scientists on the frontlines of the fight against the disease. He toured the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory that created the COVID-19 vaccine now manufactured by Moderna and being rolled out in the U.S. and other countries. (Miller and Lemire, 2/11)
The New York Times: Biden Announces A Big Vaccine Deal, But Warns Of Hurdles
The Biden administration says it has now secured enough vaccine to inoculate every American adult, but President Biden warned that logistical hurdles would most likely mean that many Americans will still not have been vaccinated by the end of the summer. Officials said Thursday that they had arranged to get 200 million more doses of vaccine by the end of summer, which amounts to a 50 percent increase. That should be enough vaccine to cover 300 million people. (2/12)
Also —
Axios: Biden Blasts Trump's COVID Vaccination Efforts: "Did Not Do His Job"
President Biden on Thursday slammed his predecessor for "not doing his job in getting ready for the massive challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions of Americans." Driving the news: Biden's remarks at the National Institutes of Health came not long after his administration signed final contracts with Pfizer and Moderna to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines. (Axios, 2/11)
