Pfizer and BioNTech, a German biotech company, announced Wednesday that the U.S. has reached a $1.95 billion deal with them for an initial order of 100 million doses of their coronavirus vaccine.
According to the announcement Americans will receive the vaccine for free. The United States, which has a population of over 300 million people, could get up to 500 million more doses of the vaccine.
Earlier this month BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said several hundred million doses could be produced even before approval, up to 1.2 billion by the end of 2021.
Their vaccine is set to begin the final stage of the testing process, known as phase three trials, at the end of the month. It is one of more than a dozen companies that has had positive results while working on a vaccine.
Moderna, a company working with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is set to begin the phase three testing stage this month as well. AstraZeneca PLC, a company developing a vaccine with the University of Oxford, will also enter phase three trials in August.