With the new order, the U.S. has committed to purchase 20 million courses total from Pfizer.
The Biden administration is also accelerating delivery to have 10 million treatment courses available by June instead, according to the White House.
A Pfizer employee checks the boxes containing Paxlovid, COVID-19 treatment pills, at a distribution facility in Memphis, Tennessee, in this undated handout picture.President Joe Biden has ordered an additional 10 million courses of Pfizer's Covid-19 treatment pill, doubling the U.S government's purchase of the oral antiviral medication as the nation faces an unprecedented surge of new infections driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.
The White House said the pills take time to manufacture and the U.S. is receiving them as soon as they come off the production line, according to a statement. The U.S. will provide any resources, including using the Defense Production Act, to support Pfizer during the manufacturing process, according to the White House.
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