Sydney Lupkin

A lab technician at a Pfizer factory inspects Paxlovid tablets as they move through the manufacturing process. Thomas Hansmann/Pfizer hide caption toggle caption Thomas Hansmann/Pfizer A lab technician at a Pfizer factory inspects Paxlovid tablets as they move through the manufacturing process. Thomas Hansmann/Pfizer The United States is spending about $530 for each 5-day course of Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill, Paxlovid. But the contract for the first 10 million doses would allow the government to get a lower price if one of a handful of other wealthy countries gets a better deal on the drug. It’s part of a purchase agreement that […]

Two highly anticipated COVID-19 pills have been authorized for emergency use and allocated for shipment to states, but the supply is tight, and the rollout varies from state to state. Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s molnupiravir are both oral antiviral pills that can be taken at home to keep patients out of the hospital. They’re meant to be taken within the first few days of having COVID-19, and they reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by up to 88% for Paxlovid and 30% for molnupiravir. Right now, they’re just for patients at the highest risk of developing severe COVID-19 illness. For […]

People line up outside a free COVID-19 vaccination site that opened Friday in Washington, D.C. The local health department is stepping up vaccination and booster shots as more cases of the omicron variant are being identified in the U.S. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Samuel Corum/Getty Images People line up outside a free COVID-19 vaccination site that opened Friday in Washington, D.C. The local health department is stepping up vaccination and booster shots as more cases of the omicron variant are being identified in the U.S. Samuel Corum/Getty Images Moncef Slaoui, the former head of the Trump administration’s Operation […]

Then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar (left) and President Donald Trump listen as Moncef Slaoui of Operation Warp Speed speaks about the crash program to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in the White House Rose Garden on May 15, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Drew Angerer/Getty Images Then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar (left) and President Donald Trump listen as Moncef Slaoui of Operation Warp Speed speaks about the crash program to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in the White House Rose Garden on May 15, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images It was 17 days before Pfizer’s first delivery […]

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, listens as Robert Kramer, president and chief executive officer of Emergent BioSolutions, testifies during a Wednesday hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. Pool/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Pool/Getty Images Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, listens as Robert Kramer, president and chief executive officer of Emergent BioSolutions, testifies during a Wednesday hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. Pool/Getty Images As Emergent BioSolution’s Baltimore factory was throwing away unfinished COVID-19 vaccine doses and struggling to pass muster with the Food and Drug Administration, the company awarded at least $3 million in […]

Doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will drop by 86% next week after one of the company’s manufacturers released a stockpile and those have been distributed. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will drop by 86% next week after one of the company’s manufacturers released a stockpile and those have been distributed. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images There will be 86% fewer Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses allocated to states next week, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show, highlighting the company’s […]

Moncef Slaoui, seen last November in the White House Rose Garden, was a key figure in the Trump administration’s crash program to develop COVID-19 vaccines. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images Moncef Slaoui, seen last November in the White House Rose Garden, was a key figure in the Trump administration’s crash program to develop COVID-19 vaccines. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images Moncef Slaoui, who led the Trump administration’s COVID-19 vaccine development efforts under Operation Warp Speed, has lost his job as chairman of the board at a medical device startup. GlaxoSmithKline said that […]

President Biden inspects COVID-19 vaccine freezers at a Pfizer plant in Kalamazoo, Mich., with White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Feb. 19. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images President Biden’s promise that there will be enough vaccines for every U.S. adult by the end of May has some Americans wondering if it’s too good to be true. Time will tell. But before the pharmaceutical companies can hit their May goal, they’ll need to reach an earlier target: Pfizer and Moderna agreed to […]

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said the agency would likely hold advisory panel meetings to consider changes in COVID-19 vaccines made in response to coronavirus variants. Scott Hensley/NPR hide caption toggle caption Scott Hensley/NPR Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said the agency would likely hold advisory panel meetings to consider changes in COVID-19 vaccines made in response to coronavirus variants. Scott Hensley/NPR With two COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States and more on the way, things are starting to look up. But virus mutations being detected around the world mean the vaccines may one day need updates to ensure they […]

A worker carries boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that were being prepared for shipment from a Pfizer facility in Portage, Mich., in December. Morry Gash/Pool/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Morry Gash/Pool/Getty Images A worker carries boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that were being prepared for shipment from a Pfizer facility in Portage, Mich., in December. Morry Gash/Pool/Getty Images President Biden said last Tuesday that his administration is already working on ordering more COVID-19 vaccine doses to increase the U.S. supply through this summer. But before that can happen, Pfizer and Moderna have to fulfill their commitments under their […]

A COVID-19 vaccine hub taking appointments only in Brooklyn, as New York City runs low on doses. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the city canceled 23,000 first-dose COVID-19 vaccine appointments because of shortages. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Spencer Platt/Getty Images A COVID-19 vaccine hub taking appointments only in Brooklyn, as New York City runs low on doses. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the city canceled 23,000 first-dose COVID-19 vaccine appointments because of shortages. Spencer Platt/Getty Images With a spotlight on COVID-19 vaccine distribution shortcomings, there’s another bottleneck that could prevent innoculations from significantly speeding […]

A worker passes through the security gate at the Moderna campus in Norwood, Mass., one of the sites where the biotechnology company is manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images A worker passes through the security gate at the Moderna campus in Norwood, Mass., one of the sites where the biotechnology company is manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is expected to become the second to get the Food and Drug Administration’s green light. A decision could come within days. But compared with pharmaceutical […]

Refrigerators store Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine at a company facility in Kalamazoo, Mich. Jerica Pitts/AP hide caption toggle caption Jerica Pitts/AP Refrigerators store Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine at a company facility in Kalamazoo, Mich. Jerica Pitts/AP When the Department of Health and Human Services released Pfizer’s $1.95 billion coronavirus vaccine contract with Operation Warp Speed last Wednesday, the agreement revealed that the Trump administration didn’t include government rights to intellectual property typically found in federal contracts. The drugmaker has downplayed its involvement in Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s more than $10 billion program to make a coronavirus vaccine available in record time. […]

The Department of Health and Human Services on Saturday made public several contracts with companies working on COVID-19 vaccines as part of Operation Warp Speed. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mark Wilson/Getty Images While the country was focused on the outcome of the election Saturday, the Department of Health and Human Services released a trove of new Operation Warp Speed documents. The newly released contracts include the crash program’s $1 billion agreement with Johnson & Johnson, which was issued through a third-party firm and lacks some customary protections against potential future price-gouging. Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s expensive […]

Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, speaks during the kickoff announcement for Operation Warp Speed in the White House Rose Garden on May 15. The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im hide caption toggle caption The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, speaks during the kickoff announcement for Operation Warp Speed in the White House Rose Garden on May 15. The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im The Department of Health and Human Services has released the contract of pharmaceutical industry veteran Moncef Slaoui, a key adviser to Operation Warp Speed, after […]

A heavily redacted supply contract between the federal government and vaccine developer Moderna, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., was released Friday. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images A heavily redacted supply contract between the federal government and vaccine developer Moderna, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., was released Friday. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images Even as the companies enlisted by the government’s Operation Warp Speed project to develop COVID-19 vaccines say they’re making quick progress, details of their lucrative federal contracts have been slow to emerge. But late Friday the Department of Health and Human Services […]