Vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna on Monday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to attend a White House “Vaccine Summit.”
The event comes before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) assessment of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine candidates. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and private-sector executives will participate in the event.
Industry officials suggest that the event is an opportunity for the Trump administration to urge the FDA to issue emergency use authorizations for the two vaccine candidates, according to Stat News.
Pharmacies, drug distributors, and logistics companies such as McKesson, Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS Health, United Parcel Service, and FedEx will be at the event.
A Stat News report revealed that drug manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna would not be a part of the summit.
Updates from vaccine manufacturers
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reported that the final analysis of the Phase 3 trial of its coronavirus vaccine indicated 95% effectiveness in preventing infections.
In the trial, Pfizer discovered 170 cases of coronavirus infection among volunteers, 162 of which were in people who received placebo or plain saline shots while the remaining 8 cases were from participants who received the BNT162b2 vaccine.
In a joint statement, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said: “Efficacy was consistent across age, race and ethnicity demographics. The observed efficacy in adults over 65 years of age was over 94%.”
Meanwhile, Moderna vaccine production may face logistical challenges, according to Albert Baehny, chairman of Swiss drugmaker Lonza.
Lonza, which has partnered with Moderna, announced that it aims to come up with 400 million doses of the vaccine every year. The U.S. company’s target is 500 million to 1 billion doses in total for 2021. People who will take the vaccine will need two doses, as with Pfizer’s shot, manifesting how long it could take, with the present manufacturing capacity, to vaccinate in many countries.
Lonza will generate ingredients within Moderna’s vaccine, formally known as mRNA-1273, in facilities in the U.S. and Switzerland, where it is based. In an interview with CNBC, Baehny mentioned the “big challenges” facing drugmakers when it comes to ramping up production.
Vaccine distribution
Covid vaccine chief Moncef Slaoui set a vaccination schedule for the U.S., saying that the entire population is done by June.
Based on Slaoui’s vaccination schedule, there are sufficient doses to immunize the rest of the world by early to mid-2022.
“Hopefully by the middle of the year, I hope most Americans will have been immunized, which means the level of hesitancy that exists currently will have been decreased because people will have learned more information … about the vaccine,” he told The Washington Post in a livestream interview.
He added that if everyone gets immunized, the U.S. “should have this pandemic under control in the second half of 2021.”
The government advisor admitted that it is “a big number” of doses to produce, but it is “a small number compared to the U.S. population and the need we have.” He further explained that people must still follow health protocols, like wearing face masks and social distancing.
