The Latest: US To Buy 100M More Doses Of Approved Vaccines
Jan 26, 2021, 2:46 PM
FILE (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)
(Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is announcing that the U.S. is purchasing an additional 100 million doses each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines for delivery this summer, with the government expecting to be able to deliver enough of the two-dose regimens to states this summer to vaccinate 300 million people.
The additional purchases from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna come as the Biden administration is trying to ramp up vaccine production and states’ capacities to inject them into arms. Biden is also announcing that vaccine deliveries to states and territories will be boosted to at least 10 million doses per week over the next three weeks.
Seeking to address concerns from state and local leaders that supplies have been inconsistent, prompting last-minute cancellations of booked appointments, the White House is also pledging to provide states with firm vaccine allocations three weeks in advance of delivery to allow for accurate planning for injections.
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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— Vaccine appointments canceled in U.S. amid confusion over supply.
— U.K. is first country in Europe to pass 100K deaths.
— EU demands vaccine makers honor their commitments.
— Virus variant brings new dimension to Europe’s pandemic fight.
— Some hospitals near capacity in hard-hit areas as Indonesia hits 1 million virus cases.
— Taiwan quarantines 5,000 people while looking for source of hospital cluster.
— Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
LOS ANGELES — California is revamping its vaccine delivery system mid-stride, centralizing what has been a hodgepodge of county systems and streamlining appointment sign-up, notification and eligibility for its 40 million residents.
The state’s health agency on Tuesday said third-party administrators would take over ordering and distributing vaccine doses with a new state secretary in charge of logistics. The move comes after California faced criticism for a slow rollout as coronavirus cases soared and hospital beds filled up with patients in much of the state.
Residents have been baffled by the varying systems as some counties will vaccinate people 65 and older while others are limited to the more restrictive 75 and up.
