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Pfizer to Boost COVID-19 Vaccine Output as WHO Warns of Vaccination Inequality

HeadlineJan 12, 2021

In Delaware, President-elect Joe Biden received his second shot of the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Monday. Pfizer says it expects to boost output of its vaccine to 2 billion doses this year amid surging demand. The U.S. has secured contracts for 200 million of those doses, with another 600 million promised to the European Union.

In Geneva, World Health Organization officials warned Monday it’s unlikely most countries will reach herd immunity through vaccination in 2021. WHO adviser Bruce Aylward called on wealthy countries and drug companies to do more to provide vaccines to the world’s poorer nations.

Dr. Bruce Aylward: “Over 40 countries have now begun vaccinating against COVID-19 using five different COVID vaccines. However, all of that vaccination, or virtually all of it, as the director-general has emphasized, were in the high-income and upper-middle-income countries so far.”

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