Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, PhD, said the drugmaker is negotiating with the U.S. to provide another 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine next year, according to CNBC.
The company could provide most of those doses during the third quarter of 2021, but the U.S. is pushing for the second quarter, he said.
"We are working very collaboratively to try to find a solution and be able to allocate those 100 million [doses] in the second quarter if possible or a lot of them," Dr. Bourla told CNBC.
Pfizer and the U.S. previously signed a contract for 100 million doses of the vaccine. Last week, Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb, MD, told CNBC the U.S. turned down several offers from Pfizer to buy more doses.
The first doses of Pfizer's vaccine were distributed in the U.S. over the weekend. The government is keeping a reserve of 500,000 doses in case of an emergency or manufacturing problem, CNBC reported, but once states become more comfortable with the distribution process, the reserve will no longer be necessary.
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