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Pfizer this week announced promising data suggesting its vaccine is over 90% effective and said it will apply to the FDA later this month. Moderna, which works closely with the National Institutes of Health, is preparing to announce its own efficacy data in a few days. An emergency application could soon follow, Slaoui said.
General Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said the government would start vaccination within 24 hours after a gunshot obtains emergency clearance.
But while manufacturers have been developing coronavirus vaccines at record speed and dozens more are still in development, Slaoui’s projections mean it will likely take months for top priority groups such as that healthcare workers and the elderly get immunized.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines come in two doses, which halves the government’s initial order of 100 million doses from each of these manufacturers.
But Slaoui added that there could be more vaccines allowed in the spring, increasing the chances of more people getting vaccinated. Four vaccines, including the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, are currently in late testing in the United States, and at least one other company plans to launch such a study this month.
“We may be able to vaccinate more Americans on an ongoing basis, per month,” Slaoui said after checking the names of other promising candidates from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
The government has yet to release a comprehensive plan to distribute coronavirus vaccines, including how it will handle logistics for vaccines that are to be shipped in sub-zero temperatures and outreach to skeptical communities.
Due to the real challenges of vaccine distribution and supply, federal health officials, including CDC Director Robert Redfield, predict that wide access will not be possible until the summer of 2021.
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