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A covid-19 vaccine could be approved and available before the end of the year, but supply restrictions and gradual rollouts mean the state’s immunization will be a slow process that will stretch until the end of the year. next year, Pennsylvania’s top health official said Thursday.
“A lot will depend on the exact amount of vaccine we get, which will determine how many people we can immunize,” Health Secretary Dr Rachel Levine said.
Levine said all indications from drug companies and the federal government are that Pfizer’s vaccine will receive federal approval in December and Moderna in late December or early January.
“If the federal approval process stays on track, we may have a vaccine within the next month,” she said. “However, we don’t know how quickly vaccine supply will meet demand.”
Most vaccines in development, including Pfizer and Moderna, require two doses.
Pennsylvania is planning a phased rollout of the vaccine, as directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first phase is divided into two parts and will focus on healthcare workers in hospitals and long-term care facilities, as well as on EMS first responders and those living in collective facilities such as nursing homes. long duration.
The plan says some vaccines will be put aside to help stop an outbreak, for example in a nursing home.
The second half of phase 1 will include other health workers who do not work in emergency or intensive care units, as well as school nurses, university health center workers and outpatient providers. . It will also include employees of collective care facilities such as prisons, rehabilitation centers and homeless shelters.
Law enforcement and fire departments will enter the second half of Phase 1, along with some critical worker subsets. Some people with certain underlying medical conditions – cancer, obesity, heart problems, etc. – as well as people over 65 fall into the second half of the first phase.
Phase 2 includes a large number of essential workers from various sectors including, but not limited to commercial stores, communications, manufacturing, catering, transportation and education. People with certain high-risk conditions will also be included in phase 2, such as those with asthma, cystic fibrosis, liver disease and high blood pressure, and pregnant women.
Phase 3, essentially, is everyone who does not fit into the categories of Phase 1 and 2.
A Gallup survey released on Tuesday shows that about 58% of Americans say they are ready to be vaccinated against covid-19, up from 50% in September. Vaccination leads to the much talked about collective immunity. The percentage of the population that must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity varies by disease, according to the World Health Organization. For the background, about 95% of people need the measles vaccine to eliminate this virus. For polio, according to the WHO, it’s about 80%.
Levine conceded that “vaccine reluctance” would be an obstacle, and said that if Federal Operation Warp Speed is a concise nod to Star Wars, it is a bit of an abuse. of language.
“People think it was that fast, so it might not be that safe,” she says. One of the reasons it has evolved so rapidly, however, is that vaccine development – not just one, but six – is funded at the same time.
She said she is not concerned that politics play a role in vaccine development, saying science has driven the process and will continue to drive it as Pfizer and Moderna vaccines go through Phase 3 clinical trials. .
Levine stressed, however, that a vaccine is not a panacea and that vaccination does not mean the end of the pandemic.
“We will be rolling it out throughout the winter, then spring and summer,” she said of the vaccine. Immunizing everyone in Pennsylvania could take a long time. I foresee that we will be wearing masks in 2021 – well before and possibly until the end of 2021. ”
Megan Guza is a writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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