[ad_1]
The United States hopes to have vaccinated 100 million people against Covid-19 by the end of February, a senior official, who represents around 40% of the country’s adult population, said on Wednesday.
The surge is expected to start in a few weeks, when the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-NIH are expected to be approved.
Each of these requires two doses, the second after three weeks and four weeks, respectively.
“Between mid-December and the end of February, we will have potentially vaccinated 100 million people,” Moncef Slauoi, scientific adviser to the government’s Operation Warp Speed (OWS) program, told reporters.
This, he continued, would cover the “at risk” population including the elderly, healthcare workers and first responders.
There will be a “sufficient” amount of the vaccine to immunize three million residents of long-term care facilities, said the former pharmaceutical executive, who was recruited by President Donald Trump’s administration in May.
The rest would be enough to reach the bulk of healthcare workers, if states and other territories agree to federal recommendations to prioritize this population.
As the production of the two vaccines increases, 20 million will be reached in December, 30 million in January and 50 million in February, for a total of 100 million.
This figure, however, excludes other vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca-Oxford which are in late stages of development.
Slaoui said the two could produce their results between late December and mid-January, paving the way for emergency approval by February if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives the green light.
Slaoui added that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine could be evaluated only on the basis of a large US clinical trial involving 15,000 people, and not with data from Britain and Brazil where the data has been marred by a problem. dosage.
While the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved by Britain on Wednesday, the process is slower and more public in the United States.
The FDA will not grant an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) until a public advisory committee meeting is held on December 10. For the Moderna vaccine, a similar meeting will take place on December 17.
Officials say logistics have been put in place to begin distributing the vaccines, if approved, almost immediately.
“When an EUA decision is made, distribution to the American people becomes immediate within 24 hours, that’s our goal,” said General Gus Perna, OWS director of operations.
Right now, he expects to deliver the first doses on December 15.
[ad_2]
Source link