BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Because of a shortage in vaccine supply, New York State is looking to purchase doses directly from Pfizer, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
"Pfizer is technically not bound to any federal agreement because they did not get engaged to what the federal government called 'Operation Warp Speed'," Cuomo said. "Pfizer is a private company and produced it on their own.
They can do what they want with it."
Pfizer is headquartered in New York City. The company told WBEN they need federal approval to sell directly to the state because of the emergency use authorization given to the drug company by the Food and Drug Administration.
"We appreciate Governor Cuomo's kind words and the pride he expressed in his letter that Pfizer is a New York-headquartered company," they wrote. "Pfizer is open to collaboration with HHS on a distribution model that gives as many Americans as possible access to our vaccine as quickly as possible."
The governor's letter to Pfizer comes on the heels of the latest wave of vaccine supply criticism from the governor who blasted the federal government for giving the state 250,000 doses of the vaccine this week, a 50,000 drop in total from the week prior. Cuomo also criticized the CDC for expanding eligibility for those who can receive the vaccine without increasing the supply of the vaccine.
"Now you have 7 million New Yorkers chasing 300,000 vaccines a week," Cuomo said. "At that rate it will take 6 months. The 300,000 goes down to 250,000 and now you're talking about 7 months to get the 7 million vaccinations done. Why did you raise that expectation?"
There are 20 million people who live in New York.
Governor Cuomo said the federal government needs to purchase new supplies as soon as possible, especially because of ongoing mutations of the COVID-19 strain from the UK and from Brazil. The governor fears this is these strains are the true "second wave" of COVID-19.
