Trump to order priority access to US COVID-19 vaccines for Americans

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday to ensure that priority access for COVID-19 vaccines procured by the US government is given to the American people before assisting other nations, senior administration officials said on Monday.

The Trump administration is confident it will have enough vaccine to inoculate everyone who wants a vaccine by the end of the second quarter of 2021, one official said, disputing a New York Times story that the government declined when Pfizer Inc offered in late summer to sell more vaccine doses to the United States.

Officials said the executive order would set up a framework for US government agencies to help other countries procure the vaccine once demand in the United States was met.

It was unclear why an executive order was needed to ensure that the vaccines would be distributed first in the United States.

Trump has followed an "America First" motto as president, and his aides want to make clear that the same policy is at work with vaccine distribution.

The White House is holding a summit on Tuesday to highlight that and to explain plans for distribution through Trump's Operation Warp Speed, which has been organizing the effort.

Vaccine developers Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc will not attend.

Invitees at the meeting 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.

Representatives from Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's transition team were not invited to the summit. 

Trump and other officials will speak at the Tuesday event, which will focus on informing the public about how distribution of the vaccine will work.

Reuters