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Executives at three companies producing coronavirus vaccines said in an interview Thursday that they would try to start distributing doses immediately after their vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“We are aiming for hours in the approval, after approval to be able to distribute,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told NBC’s Lester Holt in an episode of “Dateline” that aired Thursday.
Moderna president Stephen Hoge said his company partnered with General Gustave Perna and his team in Operation Warp Speed. “I was told they wanted the trucks to roll in a few hours, if not a day,” he said.
Perna said in a White House briefing late last month that distribution of the vaccine would be left to the private sector.
FDA COMMISSIONER MET AT WHITE HOUSE FOR CORONAVIRUS VACCINE BRIEFING
Scientists at Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have been working in recent months to develop the vaccines, a process that typically takes years.
“What is really the ingredient that has been pulled over the past year is some of the financial and commercial prudence that normally slows drug development,” Hoge said. He added that none of the companies compromised integrity for the sake of speed.
Hoge said he felt an “overwhelming sense of relief” after discovering the effectiveness of Moderna’s vaccine, which was shown to be over 94% effective in the latest clinical trial.
Pfizer was found to be 95% effective, the company said.
“We want to assure the American public that acceleration should not be confused with shortcuts,” Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said, adding that the companies were meeting all regulatory requirements.
EXPECTED STATUS OF CORONAVIRUS VACCINES IN THE COMING WEEKS
Pfizer’s vaccine could be approved for distribution as early as next week, paving the way for healthcare workers and the most vulnerable to start getting vaccinated in less than two weeks, according to NBC.
Moderna’s vaccine could also receive approval soon after Pfizer.
Still, all three said distribution to over 300 million Americans would be a logistical problem, including the fact that Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at extremely cold temperatures.
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The general public may have to wait months into 2021 to be able to receive a vaccine, experts say.
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