Former White House adviser and top Trump negotiator Jared Kushner played the key role in doubling the number of Pfizer vaccine doses the firm initially set aside for Americans, a move that may have helped slow the coronavirus spread much faster, according to a new book.
In Moonshoot, Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla described how Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, pushed to get an additional 100 million doses from the drug company even when most major nations were ahead of the United States in line.
While the talks were sometimes heated as Kushner took an America-first approach to Bourla’s world-equity view, they “closed the loop on a happy note.”
In an excerpt from his book published in Forbes, Bourla wrote about how his firm priced the vaccine and how nations, including the U.S., put in their orders. Initially, the administration’s “Operation Warp Speed” asked for 100 million doses.
As other countries sent in their orders, Bourla suggested the administration double the order to 200 million but was rebuffed.
Then, as the company’s vaccine was nearing approval for use, Operation Warp Speed officials asked for an additional 100 million doses. However, Bourla said he was sold out and that he didn’t want to break promises to shipments overseas.
“That’s when President Trump’s son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, called me to resolve the issue,” he wrote.
Over four years, Kushner, married to Ivanka Trump, was often called in as a final negotiator on several projects. He played the key role in getting Israel and several of its Arabian foes to sign the Abraham Peace Accords, for example.
In this case, Pfizer said it did not want to divert overseas shipments to Operation Warp Speed and it did not want to reopen negotiations on the deal to deliver the first 100 million doses.
Kushner agreed the bureaucracy involved “was ridiculous and promised to call the right people.”
It worked, wrote Bourla, adding, “Our lawyers had come to a mutually agreed-upon solution.”
But then there was a fight over delivery time, as Kushner wanted the vaccines fast.
“Jared was asking for a very aggressive delivery plan to the U.S. for the additional 100 million doses. He wanted it all in the second quarter of 2021. To do that, we would have had to take supplies from Canada, Japan, and Latin American countries, all of which had placed their orders earlier than the U.S. and were expecting the vaccine in the second quarter. I refused to do that, and the debate between the two of us became heated,” Bourla said. “Jared didn’t budge. In his mind, America was coming first no matter what. In my mind, fairness had to come first.”
As Trump’s right-hand man, Kushner told Bourla the government could “take measures” to enforce their will.
“Be my guest, Jared,” Bourla replied. “I prefer to have Japan’s prime minister complaining to you about the cancellation of the Olympics rather than to me.”
But the pressure must have worked because Bourla said his team did some magic to make the deal sought by Kushner work for all sides.
“Thankfully, our manufacturing team continued to work miracles, and I received an improved manufacturing schedule that would allow us to provide the additional doses to the U.S. from April to July without cutting the supply to the other countries. It was a good compromise, and eventually the contract was signed. Jared called me two days later from Mar-a-Lago to thank me for the collaboration, and we closed the loop on a happy note,” the excerpt concluded.
