On Thursday, the White House declared that it had reached an agreement with pharmaceutical companies to produce an additional 230,000 doses of the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for infants by January. This comes in response to a severe shortage of the vaccine, which has caused concern for both parents and pediatricians who have been struggling to obtain the shots.

According to three sources familiar with the situation, the decision was made following persistent requests from high-level members of the Biden administration. These officials had been in frequent communication with pharmaceutical companies in an attempt to increase production.

The scarcity of the vaccines has become more severe nationwide since October, causing frustration for both parents and healthcare providers. This has also sparked concerns that obtaining doses will become increasingly challenging, especially as the RSV season reaches its peak.

Dr. Jesse Hackell, a pediatrician and former president of the New York chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, stated that the CDC’s website continues to advise receiving the shot, despite its unavailability. He also noted that the messaging is incongruent with the current situation.

According to three anonymous sources familiar with private discussions, the Biden administration has been engaging in high-level meetings with a few manufacturers to increase the availability of shots in early next year.

Dr. Paul Friedrichs, the director of pandemic preparedness at the White House, along with deputy chief of staff Natalie Quillian, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, and CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen, have been leading the efforts to encourage companies like AstraZeneca and Sanofi to increase production of their RSV vaccines.

Thermo Fisher and BD, both of which frequently collaborate with pharmaceutical companies to complete and package medications, were also involved in the discussions.

According to two sources, there were tense discussions where officials from the Biden administration criticized company leaders for underestimating the demand for vaccines in their initial estimates. They emphasized the responsibility of the company to prevent the shortage from becoming too severe.

The White House declined to comment on the specifics of the meetings. But in a statement, spokesperson Kelly Scully said that “families must be able to access the RSV vaccine. That’s exactly why the Administration has been urging manufacturers to produce and release enough RSV vaccines to meet demand we’re seeing.”

Since the middle of November, there have been approximately 10,000 cases of RSV reported each week, which is lower than the number of cases reported at this time last year. However, parents have been more willing than anticipated to have their children receive the vaccine, resulting in ongoing shortages.

In November, the companies distributed an extra 77,000 doses in order to address the shortage in supply. However, officials from the Biden administration have urged them to locate even more doses in the past few weeks.

When asked about the talks, HHS declined to provide information on private discussions and referred to publicly available summaries of meetings held with the manufacturers on November 28 and December 7, which highlighted their dedication to increasing the supply.

Sanofi and AstraZeneca did not respond to requests for comment.

The government’s heightened attention to increasing supply coincides with the introduction of the initial RSV vaccinations, which serves as a trial for potential outcomes of significant public health efforts in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.

For a period of two years, the federal government oversaw the Covid vaccination effort in the country. They bought vaccines directly from drug companies and distributed them at no cost through a network of pharmacies and healthcare providers.

However, at the start of this year, the government started shifting these distribution duties back to private companies. This means that the companies will now be primarily responsible for producing, storing, and distributing both Covid vaccines and the upcoming RSV shots for the fall season.

In October, Cohen noted a surge in demand for the RSV vaccine, exceeding initial expectations. The CDC advised providers to limit doses to infants with the greatest risk of severe illness. As a result, manufacturers stopped taking new orders for the shots and the CDC restricted which states could obtain doses through its Vaccines for Children Program, which supplies free vaccines for families with low incomes.

According to two sources, Biden’s team did not anticipate the supply shortage to become a crisis, but they are taking steps to prevent a sudden increase in demand from catching the country off guard.

“Thermo Fisher shares in the commitment to expand the availability of RSV vaccines,” Thermo Fisher spokesperson Mauricio Minotta said in an email.

According to BD spokesperson Troy Kirkpatrick, the company discussed the timeline required to increase supply at the most recent meeting with the White House on Wednesday.

Cohen and the manufacturing industry are currently making preparations for the upcoming season.

Hackell stated that if the company learns from this year’s experience and increases production immediately, there should be a larger supply next year. However, he expressed skepticism until he sees the actual product.