U.S. President Joe Biden met with Pfizer Inc CEO Albert Bourla on Friday to discuss the country’s COVID-19 vaccine stockpile, estimated to be ready by Summer 2021.
The meeting took place in Michigan, the pharmaceutical company’s largest manufacturing facility in the United States, Reuters reports.
Bourla announced during the visit that he expects to more than double the approximately 5 million vaccine doses per week the company currently provides to the U.S. government.
It’s not every day that the President of the United States comes to visit. Thank you, @POTUS, for recognizing Pfizer’s essential workers and for all your support. pic.twitter.com/o5txun0DZI
— AlbertBourla (@AlbertBourla) February 19, 2021
Bourla said it is possible to increase vaccine supply because of improvements in the manufacturing processes at the plant.
He also said that better lab testing methods and President Biden’s use of powers under the Defense Production Act could speed up production.
President Biden: “(We’re) doing everything possible”
The Biden administration is trying to accelerate the vaccination campaign as state governments ask for more doses.
So far, over 28 million Americans have been infected by COVID-19, while close to 500,000 have lost their lives, according to Johns Hopkins coronavirus resource center figures.
President Biden said he was confident he would distribute 100 million COVID-19 shots during his first 100 days in office.
Less than 15 percent of Americans have been vaccinated so far, while the daily numbers of infections and casualties continue to be alarming.
Biden said that the government is doing everything possible to end the coronavirus spread but said that any semblance of normalcy is still months away.
President Biden urges Americans to get vaccinated
The U.S. President urged Americans to get their inoculations, adding that the vaccine is safe.
He said that after touring the Pfizer plant, he was impressed at how fastidious the testing process is and how it takes less time to make the vaccine than to test it.
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