[ad_1]
In an interview on Fox News’ The daily briefing Tuesday night, host Dana Perino asked Mr Redfield about the development of potential coronavirus vaccines.
“I think it’s really important. Number one, it’s, you know, exceptional that we have these vaccines. And it’s very exciting.
“And, again, that just reinforces why I want people to be vigilant because we are turning the corner now,” Redfield told the host.
“You don’t want to be the last group to end up receiving Covid, as the vaccine will start rolling out probably by the end of the second week of December,” the CDC director added.
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have all announced in recent weeks that their candidate vaccines have been shown to be effective in preventing Covid-19 infection, although studies of the injections have yet to be peer-reviewed. .
Pfizer, which developed its vaccine with German company BioNTech, sought emergency approval of its candidate from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week, while Moderna is expected to do the same by the end. of the month.
An FDA advisory committee will meet on December 10 to discuss emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine.
Asked by Ms Perino who would get the vaccine first, Mr Redfield said a hierarchy would be determined based on risk factors.
“Initially, in a hierarchical fashion, residents of nursing homes, then a combination of health care providers and people at high risk of poor outcomes.
“And those decisions are being finalized as we speak,” Mr. Redfield said.
States will have the final say on how vaccines are distributed among their populations, and several have already indicated that frontline workers will be the first to be vaccinated.
Mr Redfield’s comments came just two days after Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor to the White House’s Covid-19 vaccine development team, Operation Warp Speed, said U.S. citizens may start receiving drugs. vaccines only 48 hours after the approval of one of them.
“We are ready to start shipping vaccines within 24 hours of approval,” Slaoui told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC. This week on Sunday.
“We will have the vaccines there the next day after the approval, and hopefully people start getting vaccinated, I would say within 48 hours of the approval,” he added.
Coronavirus cases have increased dramatically across the United States over the past month, prompting the CDC to urge Americans to stay home for Thanksgiving to prevent the spread of the virus.
Dr Anthonny Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, recently warned that an additional 43,000 people could die from the virus by Christmas, as millions of Americans plan to travel across the country for the holidays this week.
According to a Johns Hopkins University follow-up project, there are now more than 12.5 million people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the United States. The death toll has reached at least 259,962.
[ad_2]
Source link