The United States government doubled its order for Pfizer’s Covid pills on Tuesday, a move that will modestly increase the nation’s very limited supplies of the treatment in the short term, as the country deals with a record-setting surge in coronavirus cases.
The new order will eventually provide enough pills for 10 million Americans, bringing the government’s total order of the drug to 20 million treatment courses. But they will not all be available right away. Only 35,000 of the additional courses would be delivered this month, and 50,000 more in February, to add to the 350,000 treatment courses that were already expected in the next two months, according to a senior administration official.
“We may need even more,” President Biden said on Tuesday, announcing the move ahead of a briefing he was set to receive from health advisers. “That’s the estimate we need right now.”
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