Dr. Anthony Fauci was interviewed on Sunday morning and suggested that negotiations could have been more aggressive with vaccine providers in order to avoid the supply shortages the US now is experiencing.
Dr. Anthony Fauci was interviewed on Sunday morning and suggested that negotiations could have been more aggressive with vaccine providers in order to avoid the supply shortages the US now is experiencing.
Fauci was on NBC's "Meet The Press" and said that the (worldwide) shortage of supply is a "limiting factor" in the vaccine rollout, and perhaps the greatest impediment as of now.
According to Forbes, Fauci went on to say that a shortage of doses was inevitable, at least "in some respects" the US government potentially could have done more to grab a bigger share earlier on in negotiations. Fauci said:
"We certainly could’ve, I guess, contracted a little bit more aggressively with the companies to get more doses. But right now this is what we have."
The initial negotiation the Trump administration made with pharma giants Moderna BioNtech and Pfizer provided for a total of 400 million doses, which critics are now saying may not be enough, and further negotiations will be needed, due to wastage or doses simply being lost.
There is also the possibility of Johnson & Johnson having their new single-dose vaccine approved, which would help to alleviate supply issues throughout the US.
Approximately 10% of the US population has to date received at least one of the two doses required by their vaccine regimens.
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