Pfizer and Moderna – the two companies with Covid-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States – have committed to providing a combined total of 220 million doses for transport by the end of March. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson, which could secure emergency use of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Covid-19 vaccine later this week, has pledged to provide 20 million doses in the same time frame. .
“If the emergency use permit is received this week, we hope to help end this pandemic as soon as possible,” Dr. Richard Nettles, J & J’s vice president of medical affairs, told them.
Nettles said the company is ready to deliver nearly 4 million doses immediately after the vaccine is authorized.
The executives of each of the vaccine manufacturers, together with the directors of AstraZeneca and Novavax, testified before the Subcommittee on Surveillance and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
A fourth Covid-19 vaccine could become available in the United States in April, when AstraZeneca could obtain FDA approval for its vaccine. Dr. Ruud Dobber, executive vice president and chairman of the AstraZeneca biopharmaceutical business unit, said the company would release 30 million doses immediately after the vaccine was authorized and up to 50 million doses by the end of April.
Pfizer was expected to deliver 30 to 40 million doses to the United States by the end of 2020, but only reached 40 million last week. Moderna is expected to deliver 20 million doses to the United States by the end of 2020, but has dropped by a week. When asked on Tuesday why they did not deliver on time, company executives said access to raw materials and the manufacture of a product that had never been made before contributed to the problem.
“We initially had some issues with the initial growth of our vaccine,” said John Young, Pfizer’s business director. “We have seen in particular a number of steps to limit the rate for raw materials,” Young added.
“In the end, we never had – when we were trying to make these estimates – made this scale, so we had a lot to learn along the way,” said Dr. Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna. “As we look back, we could have started this process earlier and the faster alignment of all critical raw materials, we could have gotten there a little faster instead of the first week of January, the last week of the month. December? May. Definitely retrospective, and that’s 20-20 for us. “
The five drug companies have contracts with the US government to finally provide 1.1 billion doses of vaccine, enough to completely vaccinate nearly 600 million people – almost twice as many as the US population. Company officials have assured lawmakers that they are on track to meet their commitments.
All five said they did not anticipate any shortages of raw materials that could prevent it.
“Right now, we think we have the supplies and supplies we need,” Hoge said.
Modern is seeking FDA approval to increase the number of doses in each of its Covid-19 vaccine ampoules from 10 to 15. When asked about the impact on growth, Hoge said it would “substantially speed up delivery” and demand for some critical raw materials is declining, with high demand.
“Obviously, any gains – for example, filling several doses in a vial – we will take,” Hoge said. “We need to get more doses faster in people’s arms.”
Beyond production and distribution, directors addressed questions about protection as new variants of coronavirus spread.
“Adding a new strain to our vaccine is something we have experience with and are able to do very quickly,” said John Trizzino, Novavax’s business and commercial director.
Pfizer is looking at a potential booster dose with the third dose.
“We believe there is some ongoing evidence that higher antibody titers may be protective even against new strains,” Young said. We are also in discussions with the FDA to potentially develop a modernized vaccine against a new variant of concern, should it arise.