共和国总统乔·拜登周二宣布他的政府正与冠状病毒疫苗制造商将再购买2亿剂疫苗，这些疫苗将于今年夏天运抵美国，从而使疫苗总量达到6亿剂，并确保美国最终能注射两次辉瑞和莫德纳疫苗疫苗几乎每一个美国人。

拜登还表示，联邦政府将增加数量从每周860万剂量到接下来三周每周1000万剂量，并将开始提前三周通知各州他们将收到多少剂量。

“我们将在短期内将供应增加15%以上，并让我们的州和地方合作伙伴更确定何时交货。拜登周二在白宫发表讲话时说:“这两个步骤将有助于提高我们达到或超过——上帝保佑——100天内拍摄1亿张照片的宏伟目标的前景。”

该公告没有解决严重短缺这并不意味着拜登政府找到了一种新的方式来迅速提高产量。

马里奥·塔玛/盖蒂影像公司

一名药学技术人员正在准备一剂新冠肺炎辉瑞公司的疫苗

但拜登表示，“上帝保佑”，这将使数百万人比预期更早接种疫苗，并警告说，“残酷的事实”是，大多数人仍需要几个月才能接种疫苗。

“这将使数百万美国人比以前预期的更快接种疫苗。不过，我们还有很长的路要走，”他说。

随着疫苗制造商缓慢扩大供应，美国政府已经可以根据现有合同选择购买更多剂量，预计未来三周将略微增加到1000万剂。

在唐纳德·特朗普总统的领导下，美国政府已经同意从辉瑞购买2亿剂药物，从莫德纳购买2亿剂药物，这些药物将于7月份交付。

保罗·桑奇亚/普尔/路透社，文件

装有现代新冠肺炎疫苗的箱子准备在麦克森装运

因为每种疫苗需要注射两次，所以已经从辉瑞和莫德纳购买的4亿剂疫苗足以为大约2亿美国成年人接种疫苗。但要达到“群体免疫”，还需要数千万人接受免疫。

拜登强调，美国现在预计将有6亿剂这两种疫苗，足以让3亿美国人充分接种这两种疫苗。

在这些公司完成更多的研究之前，美国食品和药物管理局还没有批准向儿童提供任何一种可用的新冠肺炎疫苗。辉瑞疫苗授权给16岁以下的人，而莫德纳疫苗授权给18岁以上的人。

一名高级政府官员没有提供关于2亿剂额外剂量的明确时间表，但称赞这一举措是每个想注射的美国人都能得到一剂的保证。

这位官员说，利用国防生产法案来增加供应仍然是一种选择。例子包括更专业的注射器和原材料，尽管疫苗制造商表示，由于技术含量如此之高，短期内几乎无法迅速增加供应。

这位官员说:“我们将尽一切努力增加疫苗的供应，加快疫苗的管理。”。

凯文·拉马克/路透社

乔·拜登总统在谈到遏制冠状病毒的斗争时，举着口罩

与他的前任形成鲜明对比的是，拜登还表示，口罩是未来几个月抵御病毒的最佳方式，他说不戴口罩“不太美国化”。

“在接下来的几个月里，口罩——而不是疫苗——是对抗新冠肺炎的最佳防御手段。专家说，从现在到4月份，戴口罩可以挽救5万人的生命，否则如果我们不戴口罩，这些人就会死去。这就是为什么我要求美国人民在头100天戴上面具，”他说。

他补充说，“事实是，你想爱国，你要保护人民。”

Biden plans to purchase 200M more doses of Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines

PresidentJoe Bidenannounced Tuesday that his administration is working withcoronavirusvaccine makers to buy another 200 million doses that would arrive this summer -- raising the total to 600 million and ensuring the U.S. will eventually have two shots of the Pfizer and Modernavaccinesfor nearly every American.

Biden also said the federal government will beincreasing the numberof doses shipped to states -- from 8.6 million doses a week to 10 million a week for the next three weeks, and will start notifying states how many doses they will receive three weeks in advance.

"We will both increase the supply in the short term by more than 15%, and give our states and local partners more certainty about when the deliveries will arrive. These two steps are going to help increase our prospects of hitting or exceeding -- God willing -- the ambitious goal of 100 million shots in 100 days," Biden said in remarks at the White House on Tuesday.

The announcement does not resolve themajor shortagesthat the nation is experiencing now and does not suggest the Biden administration has found a novel way toramp up production quickly.

But Biden said that "God willing" it will allow millions more people to be vaccinated earlier than anticipated, cautioning that the "brutal truth" is it will still take months to get through the majority of the population.

"This is going to allow millions of more Americans to get vaccinated sooner than previously anticipated. We've got a long way to go, though," he said.

The slight uptick to 10 million in the next three weeks had been expected, as vaccine makers slowly expand supply, and the U.S. government already had the option to buy more doses under existing contracts.

Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. government had already agreed to buy 200 million doses from Pfizer and 200 million from Moderna, which were delivered by July.

Because each vaccine requires two shots, those 400 million doses already purchased from Pfizer and Moderna would be enough to vaccinate about 200 million U.S. adults. But tens of millions more people will need to be immunized to reach "herd immunity."

Biden emphasized that the U.S. now expects 600 million doses of the two vaccines, enough for 300 million Americans to be fully vaccinated with both doses.

The FDA has not signed off on giving either of the available COVID-19 vaccines to children until the companies complete more research. The Pfizer vaccine is authorized in people as young as 16, whereas the Moderna vaccine is authorized for people over 18 years old.

A senior administration official did not provide a firm timetable on the 200 million extra doses, but hailed the move as a guarantee that every American who wants a shot can get one.et vaccinated

The official said using the Defense Production Act to boost supply remains an option. Examples include more specialized syringes and raw materials, although vaccine makers said there is little that can be done in the near term to boost supply rapidly because it is so highly technical.

"We will do everything in our power to increase the supply and speed the administration of the vaccine," the official said.

And in a moment that showed a significant contrast to his predecessor Biden also said that masks are the best way to defend against the virus in the coming months, saying not wearing a mask is "not very American."

"In the next few months, masks -- not vaccines -- are the best defense against COVID-19. Experts say that wearing masks from now just until April would save 50,000 lives who otherwise will pass away if we don't wear these masks. That's why I'm asking the American people to mask up for the first 100 days," he said.

He added "the fact is, you want to be patriotic, you're going to protect people."