Pfizer Strikes $1.95 Billion Deal With US Government to Produce Millions of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses

On July 22nd, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced an agreement with Pfizer Inc. for the mass production and nationwide delivery of 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. The agreement also reserved an additional 500 million doses for the US. 

Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, must still complete a phase 3 clinical trial to prove their vaccine’s efficacy. Given approval by the FDA, which would likely come in the form of an EUA, nationwide delivery is set to begin in the last quarter of 2020. 



The deal with Pfizer is part of Operation Warp Speed (OWS), a federal effort to collect various COVID-19 vaccines. The program's goal is to have at least one safe and effective defense against the virus readily available for the American public by January of next year. 

According to the WHO, 24 vaccines are currently being evaluated in clinical trials around the globe. Many countries are scrambling for a vaccine. According to Johns Hopkins, COVID-19 has infected more than 15 million people worldwide, 4 million of which are American. 



Pfizer and BioNTech received the FDA’s Fast Track designation at the beginning of July for two of their four experimental COVID-19 vaccines. The designation is meant to speed up the regulatory review process for unauthorized treatments and vaccines in the face of an unmet medical need. 

The designation was granted following the release of preliminary Phase 1/2 data from studies conducted in the United States and Germany. The leading vaccine was shown to generate antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Some of these were neutralizing antibodies, meaning they appear to interfere with the virus’ core functions. 

While the vaccine spurred immune responses, mild side effects—especially fever—were common among participants and exacerbated at higher doses. Levels of neutralizing antibodies were 1.8 to 2.8 times higher in vaccinated patients that recovered. 



It should be noted that the relationship between antibody levels and immunity is still unclear. While antibodies contribute to the immune response, a vaccine that targets antibody levels only may not be enough to effectively halt the spread of COVID-19. Pfizer's phase 3 study aims to prove that vaccinated individuals are 50% less susceptible to becoming infected.