WASHINGTON (US) – President Donald Trump will ink an executive order on Tuesday to make sure that priority access for the coronavirus vaccine procured by the government is given to Americans before providing assistance to other countries, senior administration officials said.
The administration is confident that there will be enough vaccines to inoculate everyone in the country by the end of the second quarter of 2021.
The president, who had come under fire for the manner in which he handled the pandemic, wants to take the credit for the quick development and distribution of the shots.
According to an official, the executive order would lead to the charting of new guidelines for the government agencies to extend support to other nations in procuring the shots after the demands of the US are met.
The order is designed in such a way so as to stress the ‘America First’ philosophy of the Trump administration before it makes way for President-elect Joe Biden.
A summit will be held on Tuesday to discuss plans to distribute the vaccine through the president’s Operation Warp Speed. Trump and other top officials will speak during the event. But vaccine developers Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc will not attend the summit.
According to a White House official, the two firms will not attend as they had active applications pending before the US Food and Drug Administration and a senior FDA official, Dr Peter Marks, is also slated to speak at the summit.
Those attending the event include drug distributors, pharmacies and logistics companies such as McKesson Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, CVS Health Corp, United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp.