White House officials say that there are no funds to buy a potential fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine for all Americans.
The Washington Post reports that while the Biden administration has enough doses to provide Americans over the age of 65 with a fourth shot of the vaccine but orders cannot be placed for more to cover other age groups unless Congress passes a stalled $15bn funding package.
Doses have also already been secured for children under the age of five should those shots be deemed necessary by regulators.
“Right now, we don’t have enough money for fourth doses, if they’re called for,” White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said on a forthcoming episode of In The Bubble With Andy Slavitt that was provided to the Post.
“We don’t have the funding if we were to need a variant-specific vaccine in the future,” he added.
Health officials and regulators are yet to determine if the general population would need a fourth vaccine dose.
It is vital to place orders for additional doses ahead of time in preparation for a potential further surge in case numbers from a possible new variant.
The experience of the Omicron variant surge in December showed that immunity from existing vaccines could in some cases be evaded and so funding is also needed to invest in the development of targeted shots as the virus evolves.
Some 217 million Americans, or approximately 65 per cent of the population, are considered fully vaccinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of that number 200 million have received two doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines, and 97 million have received a booster shot.
Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna filed for emergency authorisation of second booster shots of their coronavirus vaccines last week.
Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking permission for those aged 65 and older, and Moderna wants to provide a fourth dose to all adults to combat waning immunity after the first booster.
Biden administration officials are concerned that while funding is stalled by lawmakers, orders to vaccine manufacturers from other countries will see the US pushed to the back of the line.
Meanwhile, health officials are stressing “preparedness not panic” as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy termed it at the weekend, as cases of Covid-19 rise in Europe due to the BA.2 subvariant.
A similar uptick is seen as inevitable in the US, but to date cases numbers remain down from their peaks over December and January.
Congressional leaders continue to debate the size of any pandemic funding package and how it will be paid for.
Republicans are insisting on a more detailed accounting of how Covid-19 response money has been spent to date before agreeing to further funding.
The Biden administration has been pushing for further funding, not just for vaccines, but also for therapeutics for those who become infected, including monocolonal antibodies that are an important part of treating those at high risk from the virus.
Coronavirus aid had been folded into the long-term bill to fund the government but was stripped out after some House Democrats objected to funds for Covid programs being clawed back from states governments.
Lawmakers are now trying to agree on where offsets in funding could be made to cover the costs.
