Yesterday, House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing, Pathway to Protection: Expanding Availability of COVID-19 Vaccines, with witnesses from COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers (and several BIO members). Below, a top-line summary of what they discussed—including how many doses are on the way.
Much of the dialogue between Members of Congress and the companies focused on early distribution issues and steps to remedy the slow delivery to patients.
Expect hundreds of millions more vaccine doses very soon:
- Pfizer is “on track to make 120 million doses available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May,” with “all 300 million contracted doses” by the end of July.
- Moderna will “deliver 100 million doses by the end of March,” doubling monthly deliveries “by April to more than 40 million doses per month…to deliver a second 100 million doses by the end of May and a third 100 million doses by the end of July.”
- Johnson & Johnson: “[O]ur plan is to begin shipping immediately upon emergency use authorization, and deliver enough single-doses by the end of March to enable the vaccination of more than 20 million Americans. We are confident in our plans to deliver 100 million single-dose vaccines to the United States during the first half of 2021.”
- Novavax is “prepared to deliver the 110 million doses…by the third quarter of this year,” with “global capacity to produce approximately 2 billion doses per year, roughly 150 million doses per month.” (Novavax’s U.S. phase 3 trial is now fully enrolled, and the company expects to complete the FDA filing in the second quarter of 2021.)
There was overwhelming appreciation of the efforts of companies, and the feat to develop and distribute a vaccine in less than one year. (Check out BIO’s COVID-19 Therapeutic Development Tracker to learn more about it.)
There were a few exchanges on the call to utilize global “march-in” rights through the World Health Organization (WHO)—but this provided company representatives the opportunity to highlight their commitments to ensuring global access to vaccines without the “theft” of intellectual property.
Learn how America’s intellectual property laws have driven biopharmaceutical innovation.
Also: Some Members inquired about possible disruptions in the supply chain, both in procuring raw materials or manufacturing generally. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) inquired about vaccine hesitancy among minorities and what companies are doing to promote vaccine uptake in underserved communities.
Watch the entire hearing.
Do you have questions about COVID-19 vaccines? Visit www.COVIDVaccineFacts.org.
More Health Care News:
The Wall Street Journal: To make more COVID-19 vaccines, rival drugmakers team up
“Sanofi and Novartis are among the big pharmaceutical companies that have agreed to help make a competitor’s shots.”
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