The Biden government bought further two hundred million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine to prepare for possible more vaccine needs in the United States, a government official aware of the contract tells CNN. He further adds that instead of the slowing demand for coronavirus vaccines, additional shots would be required for children under twelve, pending approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the chances of booster doses for vaccinated people.

Moreover, the official said that the federal administration is implementing an option in its agreement with Pfizer to purchase two hundred million doses of vaccine to delivered between fall of this year and spring of the following year to prepare for future inoculation needs, including vaccines for children under twelve and probable booster shots if studies show they are necessary.

Additionally, the official noted that Pfizer agreed to provide the United States with sixty-five million pediatric shots should its vaccine might approve for kids under twelve, including shots available instantly upon authorization. At present, none of the three coronavirus vaccines used in the country is available to children under the age of twelve.

Pfizer to ask the FDA to Approval Vaccine for Emergency Use under ages 5 to 11

With several schools across the U.S. now some weeks from reopening for the fall semester, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna are still working on clinical trials to assess the efficacy and safety of the vaccines in children under twelve. Statistics for children ages five to eleven could come sometime in September, and depending on the results, Pfizer told CNN it could ask the Federal Drug Authority to approve emergency use of the vaccine that same month.

Statistics for two- to five-year-old children could arrive soon after. Furthermore, for the youngest children, Pfizer said it could likely get data in the tenth or eleventh month and soon afterward ask the FDA to approve it for emergency use. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top most infectious disease expert in the country, said Tuesday that it is more possible that facts about coronavirus vaccines in children under twelve may be available by early winter.

Read Also: FDA is Speedily-tracking Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine for Approval

At a Senate hearing, Fauci said that very likely when experts do the age de-escalation analysis – so they have gone from 12 years to 9, 9 to 6, 6 to 2, and then 6 months to 2 years – possibly by late fall, early winter, the officials will have enough data. However, it doesn’t mean that then it is suddenly going to be allowed to happen. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director also said that would be a governing decision that the agency will have to make.

What will be the Total number of Delivered Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine at the End of 2021?

BioNTech releases news which states that as per the expectations, they would deliver additional vaccine doses of one hundred and ten million by 31st December 2021, and the remaining ninety million no later than the April 2022 end. The Biden administration also has the choice to buy updated versions of the vaccine after their approval and if they are available. Thus, after this acquisition, the total number of supplied Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines doses will reach five hundred million.

In June, the United States government announced that they intended to acquire an additional five hundred million coronavirus vaccine doses and would donate it to other lower and middle-income countries. However, demand for coronavirus vaccines in the United States declined significantly since the initial rollout. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 252232 Americans are becoming fully vaccinated every day, and this is the lowest ratio of vaccinations since January 2021. Around forty-nine percent of America is fully vaccinated.

Joe Biden, the President of the United States, made a prediction at a CNN town hall earlier this week that the FDA would approve children under twelve to receive the vaccine soon, and it will be up to the health experts to decide. Biden also said that soon, in the sense that he doesn’t tell any scientists what they should do because he doesn’t interfere in the matter. However, they are doing the examinations and testing and will make the decision based on the outcome.

My Build Back Better Agenda will provide access to quality, affordable child care. Middle-class families will pay no more than 7% of their income for high-quality care for children up to age 5 — and the most hard-pressed working families won’t pay a dime.

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 15, 2021