On Tuesday, Donald Trump signed a new order that will give Americans priority access to vaccines.
It was unclear whether Trump’s executive order, which he said would ensure that American citizens have first priority to receive American vaccines, would hold legal weight, since drugmakers have already signed deals with other countries.
But it indicates that the White House is concerned about whether it has sufficient doses to meet its immunization targets, which are 100 million people by the end of February and the whole country by June.
The document also raised expectations that Pfizer will soon be granted emergency approval in the United States, with a meeting on the topic set for Thursday.
A meeting on emergency approval for US firm Moderna’s vaccine candidate is scheduled for December 17.
Speaking from his headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden stressed it was imperative for lawmakers to finish the bipartisan work underway now or millions of Americans may wait months longer to get the vaccine.
Biden also pledged that his administration would carry out at least 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office, a more conservative estimate than that offered by Trump officials.
