Pfizer, Moderna decline White House’s ‘Vaccine Summit’ invitation

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a “Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine” sticker and a medical syringe in front of displayed Pfizer logo in this illustration taken, October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

Vaccine developers Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc on Monday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to attend a White House “Vaccine Summit.”

The meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, comes ahead of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) review of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine candidates. It will be attended by Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and private-sector executives.

Industry officials familiar with the plans for the summit interpret it as an opportunity for the White House to pressure the FDA to quickly issue emergency use authorizations for the two vaccines candidates, Stat News reported last week.

Invitees at the meeting include drug distributors, pharmacies and logistics companies such as McKesson Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, CVS Health Corp, United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp.

Stat News earlier on Tuesday reported that Pfizer and Moderna would not be attending the summit, citing sources familiar with the event’s planning.

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