US approves to a $3.2 billion agreement for Pfizer’s Omicron

• US pfizer’s Omicron approves $3.2 billion deal to purchase 105 million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.
• The deal includes a planned new vaccine targeting the Omicron strain for the fall booster campaign.
•  An additional 195 million vaccines have not yet been approved by the FDA.

Pfizer’s Omicron: The Biden Administration has approved a $3.2 billion deal to purchase 105 million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, which includes a planned new vaccine targeting the Omicron strain for the fall booster campaign.

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The US government has the option to purchase an additional 195 million doses of vaccines that have not yet been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the US Department of Health Dawn O’Connell stated, “We look forward to receiving these new variant-specific vaccines and working with state and local health departments, pharmacies, health care providers, federally qualified health centres, and other partners to make them available in communities across the country.”

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Congress failed to authorise additional pandemic money requested by the administration. As a result, the US Department of Health was obliged to divert billions of dollars from other Covid response activities to pay for the new vaccines.

This week, an FDA panel agreed to suggest the first modifications to the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines since their introduction in December 2020. The increased dosages would be designed to target the Omicron variety. The agency is expected to settle on the precise formulation of the next-generation booster in early July, with experts predicting that it will aid in preventing a wintertime outbreak of Covid infections.

Pfizer stated that the availability of novel variant-specific vaccinations was reliant upon FDA approval.