The U.S. government is procuring up to 405 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from a partnership between Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX) under a $3.2 billion firm-fixed-price contract.
The Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday it expects to receive the initial doses for both adult and pediatric use in the fall.
“Vaccines have been a game-changer in our fight against COVID-19, allowing people to return to normal activities knowing that vaccines protect from severe illness,” said Xavier Becerra, secretary of HHS and a previous Wash100 Award winner.
The Biden administration plans to use a portion of reallocated funds from pandemic response efforts to pay for orders from Pfizer.
HHS collaborated with the Department of Defense on the procurement.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended the use of a component targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in the national booster vaccination initiative.
