(Adds additional commentary from officials, background on
AstraZeneca vaccine)
By Carl O'Donnell and Jeff Mason
March 12 (Reuters) - The White House is holding onto some
doses of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine so they can
be given to Americans quickly if authorized by the U.S. health
regulator, a top administration official said Friday.
AstraZeneca has produced doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in
the United States, where it has yet to be approved. The vaccine
developed with Oxford University has been authorized for use in
the European Union and many countries.
Reuters reported this week that U.S. officials told the EU
not to expect shipments of the shot from the United States
anytime soon.
"We have a small inventory of AstraZeneca so, if approved,
we can get that inventory out to the American people," White
House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said in a
Friday press call.
The New York Times reported this week that tens of millions
of doses have already been produced in the United States and are
sitting in production facilities unused.
AstraZeneca said in February it expects its vaccine could
receive U.S. emergency use authorization at the beginning of
April and could immediately deliver 30 million doses to
locations around the United States.
The U.S. stance could jeopardize AstraZeneca’s attempts to
come closer to delivering on its contractual obligation with the
EU of 180 million doses in the second quarter.
AstraZeneca told the EU earlier this year it would cut its
supplies in the second quarter by at least half to less than 90
million doses, EU sources told Reuters, after a bigger reduction
in the first three months of the year.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the government
will first give Americans COVID-19 vaccines, but any surplus
would be shared with the world.
The United States has been one of the world leader in
vaccine administration. It has distributed more than 130 million
shots and administered nearly 100 million, according to federal
data last updated on Thursday.
White House officials said on Friday that 65% of Americans
over 65 years old have been given shots.
(Reporting by Carl O'Donnell in New York and Jeff Mason in
Washington; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert in Washington;
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)