Thread by @DrEricDing

📍With looming vaccine shortage, Pfizer & Trump HHS cuts deal to obtain more critical supplies. ➡️But, Pfizer first started asking for Trump WH help in obtaining supplies as early as Sept—yet Pfizer was completely ignored by Trump WH for 3 months! #COVID19
nytimes.com/2020/12/22/us/…

2) “Moderna and other companies that worked more closely than Pfizer with the administration through its Operation Warp Speed to develop their vaccines already receive **favored treatment** from suppliers, putting Pfizer at a disadvantage”

3) “Pfizer & [WH] have been negotiating for more doses from Pfizer for more than a month. But a host of other issues have stood in the way, including Pfizer’s commitments to other nations that **moved faster than the US to lock in a big supply**, according to people familiar.” 🤦🏻‍♂️

4) ““The last thing we want is for this to turn acrimonious,” said Dr. Walid F. Gellad, who leads the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing. “This kind of corrosive back-and-forth is not helping the public feel any better about what’s going to happen in the future.”

5) “Pfizer’s relationship with the administration has been tense for months. After he lost the election in November, President Trump accused Pfizer of deliberately slow-walking federal approval of its vaccine to hurt him politically.”

6) “Had the government agreed to prioritize its supply needs earlier, one person familiar with Pfizer’s situation said, the company might be better positioned now to fully meet the demands.

A senior Trump administration official said the government was unwilling to intervene...”

7) BOTTOMLINE: Because of Trump’s political hardball, and his America First demands, America is now falling behind in the vaccine. Thanks Trump. #COVID19