Ahead Of Trump Vaccine EO, Pfizer & Moderna Claim Inability To Supply Further Doses Until Mid-2021

Update (2000ET): Shortly after WaPo broke the story about Pfizer, a Moderna spokesperson said a similar story – that it has deals with many other countries and will not be able to provide any further vaccines to the US until Q2 at the earliest.

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One can’t help but sense a pattern here. Having claimed (and been forced to retract) that it did not benefit from the Trump administration’s Operation Warpspeed program to accelerate development of a COVID vaccine, Pfizer tonight told The White House that the CEO would not be attending the COVID vaccine summit (after leaking data early to the Biden administration), and now tonight, The Washington Post (of all outlets) reports that, Pfizer has told the Trump administration it cannot provide additional doses of its coronavirus vaccine until late June or early July because other countries have rushed to buy up its supply.

The government purchased 100 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine with an option to purchase another 500 million.

But, WaPo claims that, according to multiple individuals familiar with the situation, Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. government additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.

In a statement, Pfizer said that “any additional doses beyond the 100 million are subject to a separate and mutually acceptable agreement,” and that “the company is not able to comment on any confidential discussions that may be taking place with the U.S. government.”

Pfizer spokeswoman Amy Rose declined to confirm or deny the information and said that beyond the first 100 million doses the U.S. has secured, a separate agreement would have to be reached.

“The company is not able to comment on any confidential discussions that may be taking place with the U.S. government,” Rose said.

However, while WaPo attempted to play up the panic and position the blame, Gen. Paul Ostrowski, who oversees logistics for Operation Warp Speed, the government’s initiative to expedite vaccine development, said:

“I’m not concerned about our ability to buy vaccines to offer to all of the American public,” adding that “it’s clear that Pfizer made plans with other countries. Many have been announced. We understand those pieces.”

Additionally, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said,

“We are confident that we will have 100 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine as agreed to in our contract, and beyond that, we have five other vaccine candidates.”

The market is down modestly in the after-hours after this news…

But, one wonders why this pattern is occurring? Having been baptized in the fire of the last four years of deceit, we wonder if the possibility of a fast-mutating virus could mean that the much-heralded vaccines won’t stop the spread of the virus as effectively as everyone has hailed; and so, again – with pure speculation – one wonders if this move by Pfizer (through WaPo) is giving Biden some cover for when it all goes pear-shaped in H1 2021 (after the 100 days of mask-wearing), enabling him to blame Trump for lack of preparedness?

In other news that broke today, Fox News reports that President Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday that will ensure all Americans have access to the coronavirus vaccine before the U.S. government begins aiding nations around the world.

Senior administration officials told Fox News Monday that the president will reemphasize to the American people that the “priority has been an America First approach,” during a vaccine summit at the White House Tuesday.

The official said that the executive order is “clear and is directing that we prioritize access to the American people before working with partners and allies to provide access to the vaccine.”

So, one other possibility is that this is simply a negotiating ploy by Pfizer, knowing the EO will put pressure on them to deliver.