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Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech will supply the federal government with 100 million doses of their coronavirus vaccine under a $1.95 billion deal announced Wednesday, the administration’s largest investment yet in a vaccine that has not been proved effective. The government also has an option to acquire an additional 500 million doses of BNT162, as the vaccine candidate is called. It still must secure regulatory approval or authorization that Pfizer projects it may seek as early as October. (Denham and Johson, 7/22)

If one of the vaccines proves safe and effective in a large phase three trial and receives regulatory approval, HHS said Pfizer will begin to deliver doses to locations across the U.S. at the government’s direction. The vaccine would then be made available to Americans “at no cost,” HHS said. It’s unclear who the first doses of the potential vaccine would go to and how that decision would be made. (Moreno, 7/22)

The Trump administration’s commitment on Wednesday to purchase 100 million doses of a not-yet-finished vaccine is unusual in two ways. The private sector buys most vaccines in the United States, not the government. The drug industry has lobbied to keep things that way; private payers usually pay more for vaccines than the government does. And when the government does buy vaccines — typically on behalf of low-income children — it is almost always vaccines that have already received safety and efficacy approval from the Food and Drug Administration. (Kliff, 7/22)

"We’ve been committed to making the impossible possible by working tirelessly to develop and produce in record time a safe and effective vaccine to help bring an end to this global health crisis," Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. Bourla added the company is "honored to be a part of this effort to provide Americans access to protection from this deadly virus." (Thorbecke, 7/22)