By Carl O’Donnell
(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc on Wednesday said it has produced 120 million doses of its COVID-19 shot for the United States that have been cleared for use by regulators, in keeping with guidance it gave U.S. lawmakers in February.
Pfizer has delivered about 103 million of those doses to locations around the United States, with the remainder ready to be shipped as soon as the federal government gives the order, a company spokeswoman told Reuters.
The U.S. drugmaker remains on track to deliver 200 million doses by the end of May and 300 million by the end of July. It expects to produce 2 billion shots globally by the end of the year.
It has shipped 232 million shots worldwide, including 62 million to the European Union.
Officials from more than half a dozen states told Reuters that a recent increase in U.S. vaccine shipments is allowing them to accelerate efforts to inoculate the elderly and front-line workers, and in some cases to begin providing shots to all adult residents earlier than expected.
Moderna said on Monday it shipped 100 million doses of its vaccine to the United States.
Johnson & Johnson also delivered around 20 million shots to the United States in March, as promised, despite delays in regulatory approval of key manufacturing facilities.
(Reporting by Carl O’Donnell; editing by Jane Wardell)
