The Biden Administration has ordered an additional 200 million vaccine doses from manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna, a move that will increase the number of doses available in the pipeline to enough to fully vaccinate every American by the end of summer, NBC News reports.
The Biden Administration had previously coordinated with the two vaccine manufacturers to ensure that 400 million vaccines would be available for distribution and stockpiling to make sure patients got the required second dose. Due to lack of planning by the Trump administration, many states and hospitals are reporting a shortage of vaccines, using doses previously reserved for second inoculations to be used for first vaccinations for specified groups.
The move by the Biden Administration comes as the nation comes off new peaks in deaths and infections following the holiday season.
While the Trump Administration claimed that 100 million people would be vaccinated by the end of 2020, fewer than nine million were. Doses of the available vaccines were hard to come by because the federal government under Trump did not produce nor implement a comprehensive distribution program.
In his first week in office, President Joe Biden has appointed a White House coordinator for coronavirus vaccine and testing efforts to ensure that vaccines and tests were being shipped to regions that needed them most.
He also executed clauses in contracts with Pfizer and Moderna that provided for the purchase of more vaccines, a move the Trump Administration bypassed as it waited for vaccines from other manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.