HHS Secretary: COVID-19 vaccine 'surplus' will be used 'for the benefit of the world community'

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Wednesday that the anticipated surplus of COVID-19 vaccine doses will be used "for the benefit of the world community."

"We now have 900 million doses of vaccine that we have contracted for the delivery of. We have options that increase that to a total of 3 billion doses of vaccine. We have 100 million of Moderna set between now and March 31; 100 million of Pfizer between now and March 31; 100 million additional Moderna in the second quarter," Azar said during an Operation Warp Speed briefing with reporters.

The FDA on Friday gave emergency-use approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and is expected to approve Moderna's by week's end.

Vaccines by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are also in the late-stage clinical trials.

"We are working actively with Pfizer, and I will just say that I'm very optimistic that we will conclude a successful result there," Azar also said. "We have Johnson and Johnson with 100 million in active production, single dose, so that is 100 million people right there. AstraZeneca; I believe it's 300 million on AstraZeneca."

He said HHS estimates that there will be a surplus of the vaccine supply that can be sent internationally. 

"We believe when you take 330 million Americans, you take off the non-indicated populations of about 70 million people below age 16, you know, if you just do the math on that, we've got now the vaccine contracted for, with delivery, we believe, subject of course to the Moderna approval and success of adding either a Johnson and Johnson or AstraZeneca, we believe that we will have actually surplus supplies of vaccine," he said.

"And that's why the president signed his executive order that made the commitment that we will take that surplus capacity, not just surplus vaccine, but also surplus manufacturing capacity, and use that for the benefit of the world community," Azar also said.

Azar did not specify when vaccine doses would be used internationally.