Health security

 

First Thing: the White House turned down 100m extra Pfizer vaccine doses

The White House refused an offer to buy 100m additional doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, a decision which could cause delays in distribution. The Trump administration ordered an initial 100m doses, enough for 50 million Americans, from the US multinational but passing up the opportunity to buy a second batch could mean the US has to wait until Pfizer has supplied other countries before it can get further doses.

Melania Trump also faced a backlash yesterday over her decision to announce a new White House tennis pavilion in the midst of a pandemic that has killed more than 280,000 Americans. “Oh good, those people in their ICU beds will feel so much better knowing that [Trump] has finished her tennis pavilion,” one critic tweeted.

• Senate Republicans were criticised over their decision to introduce a doctor who opposes government involvement in medicine as a key witness at a US Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee hearing on Tuesday. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, described Jane Orient as a “conspiracy theorist” and said she should not be given a platform “at such a crucial time”.