White House reaches agreements to buy more COVID-19 vaccines by summer
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said it has secured commitments from manufacturers to buy another 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to arrive this summer -- 100 million from Pfizer and 100 million from Moderna.
This raises the total to 600 million and ensures the U.S. will eventually have two shots for nearly every American.
![PHOTO: English teacher Karen Kramer works the room during the first day of in-person learning at Arvada West High School on Jan. 25, 2021 in Arvada, Colo. Students have not been in the building since before winter break.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Health/school-ok-covid-02-gty-iwb-210126_1611688917110_hpEmbed_3x2_992.jpg)
"We expect these vaccines to be available in production over the course of the summer," a Biden official said Tuesday.
Buying more doses had always been an option for the U.S. government as part of the prior contracts.
"We will increase overall weekly vaccination distributions of states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses starting next week," Biden said Tuesday.
The president also vowed to increase "transparency with states, cities and tribes and local partners when it comes to the vaccine supply."
"From this week forward," he said, "states, tribes and territories will now always have a reliable, three-week forecast with the supply they're going to get."
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.