US Strikes $2 Billion Deal To Buy COVID-19 Vaccine From Pfizer Tyler Durden Wed, 07/22/2020 - 07:35 In the latest deal involving a (clearly anxious) government and a (clearly greedy) pharmaceutical giant peddling an as-yet-unfinished remedy or vaccine, the US Department of Health and Human Services and the DoD have announced a deal with Pfizer to buy 100 million doses of a vaccine candidate - once it has been tested and approved and all that. We received the latest update from Pfizer and BioNTech, who have struck a deal to work together on a vaccine, earlier this week when they released the results of an early-stage trial purporting to establish that the vaccine is safe for human consumption.The virus remains on track to begin anticipated Phase 2B/3 safety and efficacy trial later in July. The US government has pledged $1.95 billion for 600 million doses of the vaccine, with an initial order of 100 million doses. The US government said it aims to make the vaccine free to all Americans. We expect to learn more about the "arrangement" when DHHS Secretary Alex Azar joins the "Squawk Box" crew for an interview in an hour.