White House to tell governors that they will get more coronavirus vaccines starting next week

WASHINGTON — Federal allocations of coronavirus vaccines to states and other jurisdictions are expected to increase by about 16% next week, easing shortages that have intensified nationwide without fully alleviating supply problems.

Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House's COVID-19 response, is expected to inform governors of the increase on a call Tuesday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it.

The weekly allocation is forecast to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million doses. The vaccine is distributed on a population basis among 64 jurisdictions, including 50 states, eight territories and six major cities.

Zients is expected to stipulate that the increased supply will come from releasing more doses of Moderna's vaccine — one of two authorized for emergency use in the United States. The other available product, also a two-dose regimen, was developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech.

The allocations are projected to last through the coming weeks. They will be welcome news to state and local officials who have implored the federal government for better forecasting of vaccine availability and transparency about supply.

The White House declined to comment.

Both companies have said they are increasing production. Each has pledged to provide 100 million doses to the United States by the end of March and another 100 million in the second quarter.

Moderna this month raised its global target for the year from 500 million doses to 600 million. Pfizer and BioNTech recently raised their target from 1.3 billion doses to 2 billion doses. Much of that supply is promised to other countries.

Pfizer has delayed or reduced shipments to Canada and Europe as it retools a factory in Belgium, frustrating foreign governments. But the company's chief executive, Albert Bourla, said during a Bloomberg event Tuesday morning that the company would be able to supply the United States with 200 million doses two months earlier than expected because of a labeling change that allows medical providers to squeeze an extra dose out of each vial.

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In the United States, vaccine appointments have been canceled throughout the country as state and local health officers and medical providers confront a limited supply of vaccine, which is being targeted at medical workers, older people, some frontline workers and other highly vulnerable people. The patchwork of rules about eligibility has deepened confusion about access to the shots.

There could soon be a bright spot in the form of a third vaccine, though its efficacy is not publicly known. Health officials are awaiting data from a trial by Johnson & Johnson, which probably will arrive in the next week. That data may also suggest how a vaccine performs against one of the variants spreading throughout the world, because some of the trial was conducted in South Africa, where a more transmissible variant has been identified.