[BENGALURU] Pfizer Inc is close to striking a deal with the US government to supply at least tens of millions of additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate next year in exchange for a government directive giving it better access to manufacturing supplies, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

An agreement could be announced as early as Wednesday, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.

Pfizer did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE as well as rival Moderna Inc recently won the US emergency use authorization for their respective vaccine candidates.

The US government has signed a deal with Pfizer for 100 million doses of its vaccine, which has started being rolled out across the country.

The government is asking for 100 million additional doses from Pfizer from April through June, according to the NYT report.

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In exchange, the deal calls for the government to invoke the Defence Production Act to give Pfizer better access to roughly nine specialised products it needs to make the vaccine, the report said.

REUTERS