HHS Sec. Azar: Pfizer Vaccine Deal Expected to Start in December

A deal reached between the government and Pfizer Inc. to produce and deliver its COVID-19 vaccine candidate means that once the vaccine is approved, 100 million doses could come to the United States starting in December, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar confirmed Wednesday.

"Under the president's leadership, we just signed a contract with global pharmaceutical leader Pfizer to produce 100 million doses of vaccine, starting in December of this year, with an option to buy another half a billion doses," Azar said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends."

Azar's comments came shortly after the deal, quoting both HHS and the Department of Defense, was announced.

According to a press release from HHS, if the vaccine is proven to be safe and effective in a large phase three trial and is approved, the company will start to deliver doses across the United States, making the vaccine available to Americans "at no cost," reports CNBC.

The Pfizer announcement adds to the four other vaccine candidates that prioritize the United States, "where we are going to manufacture the vaccines and work to approve FDA [Food and Drug Administration] approval of them all at the same time," Azar told Fox News.

He added that "incredible progress" is being made toward a vaccine, and the United States is invested in three of the five vaccines under the leadership of President Donald Trump, with the others being vaccines from AstraZeneca and Moderna. 

"Each of those has reported very positive phase one trial results that show they basically cause the immune system to work and create neutralizing antibodies that would fight the virus," Azar said. 

Meanwhile, Trump said Tuesday afternoon that the pandemic may get worse before it gets better, but Azar said there are tools to deal with the illness, including several therapeutics. 

"One of the most important tools that we have is if we can wear face coverings in social settings," he said. "We have data that we can turn the rates of infection around."

• Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Dual Immune Response
• Moderna's Coronavirus Vaccine Results Spark Wall Street Hopes