• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
COVID-19 Shots Could Reach First Americans by Mid-December, Top Health Official Says

COVID-19 Shots Could Reach First Americans by Mid-December, Top Health Official Says

November 23, 2020
Elon Musk’s Time At DOGE Comes To End

Elon Musk’s Time At DOGE Comes To End

May 28, 2025
Federal Court Blocks Trump Tariffs Used Under Emergency Powers

Federal Court Blocks Trump Tariffs Used Under Emergency Powers

May 28, 2025
Marco Rubio To Revoke Visas For Chinese Students

Marco Rubio To Revoke Visas For Chinese Students

May 28, 2025
Hostage Freed From Hamas Reveals Who His Captors Wanted To Win US Election

Hostage Freed From Hamas Reveals Who His Captors Wanted To Win US Election

May 28, 2025
Manhunt Continues For Ex-Police Chief After Prison Escape

Manhunt Continues For Ex-Police Chief After Prison Escape

May 28, 2025
North Korea Has Been Quietly Stealing US Jobs For Years. It’s Made A Killing In The Process

North Korea Has Been Quietly Stealing US Jobs For Years. It’s Made A Killing In The Process

May 28, 2025
Dolly Parton Says She Leans on Her Faith After Husband’s Death

Dolly Parton Says She Leans on Her Faith After Husband’s Death

May 28, 2025
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Ex-Assistant Alleges He Threatened to Kill Her

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Ex-Assistant Alleges He Threatened to Kill Her

May 28, 2025
‘Restoring The Warrior Ethos’: Hegseth Takes Blowtorch To More Pentagon Bloat

‘Restoring The Warrior Ethos’: Hegseth Takes Blowtorch To More Pentagon Bloat

May 28, 2025
Trump Gives Lesson On Negotiation Tactics To Reporter Who Asked ‘Nasty Question’ About His Tariff Strategy

Trump Gives Lesson On Negotiation Tactics To Reporter Who Asked ‘Nasty Question’ About His Tariff Strategy

May 28, 2025
‘Big Ugly Bill’: Dems Plot To Make Trump’s ‘Beautiful’ Package Politically Toxic For GOP Lawmakers

‘Big Ugly Bill’: Dems Plot To Make Trump’s ‘Beautiful’ Package Politically Toxic For GOP Lawmakers

May 28, 2025
Study Shreds Planned Parenthood’s Favorite ‘Safer Than Tylenol’ Abortion Pill Talking Point

Study Shreds Planned Parenthood’s Favorite ‘Safer Than Tylenol’ Abortion Pill Talking Point

May 28, 2025
  • Donald Trump
  • State of the Union
  • Elon Musk
  • Tariffs
  • Congress
  • Faith
  • Immigration
Thursday, May 29, 2025
  • Login
IJR
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls
No Result
View All Result
IJR
No Result
View All Result
Home News

COVID-19 Shots Could Reach First Americans by Mid-December, Top Health Official Says

by Reuters
November 23, 2020 at 7:31 am
in News
242 10
0
COVID-19 Shots Could Reach First Americans by Mid-December, Top Health Official Says

FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker prepares specimen collection tubes at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) drive-thru testing location in Houston, Texas, U.S., November 20, 2020. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

U.S. healthcare workers and others recommended for the nation’s first COVID-19 inoculations could start getting shots within a day or two of regulatory consent next month, a top official of the government’s vaccine development effort said on Sunday.

Some 70% of the U.S. population of 330 million would need to be inoculated to achieve “herd” immunity from the virus, a goal the country could achieve by May, according to Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for “Operation Warp Speed.”

Slaoui said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would likely grant approval in mid-December for distribution of the vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech, launching the largest inoculation campaign in U.S. history.

The FDA’s outside advisers are slated to meet on Dec. 10 to review Pfizer’s emergency-use application for its vaccine, which the company said was found to be 95% effective against infection from the highly contagious respiratory virus.

A second pharmaceutical company, Moderna Inc, is expected to seek separate approval later in December for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Appearing on several network news shows on Sunday morning, Slaoui sketched out a timeline for getting the initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine from FDA authorization into the arms of those who will be first in line to receive it.

“Within 24 hours from the approval, the vaccine will be moving and located in the areas where each state will have told us where they want the vaccine doses,” Slaoui told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“So I would expect, maybe on day two after approval on the 11th or 12th of December, hopefully the first people will be immunized across the United States,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.

Once emergency-use approval is granted, Slaoui said, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and an advisory panel on immunization practices will recommend who should receive the vaccine first.

Slaoui said they are likely to include doctors, nurses and “front-line” emergency medical personnel, as well as individuals considered to be at the highest risk of severe illness and death from the virus, such as the elderly.

Public health authorities in each state will be responsible for administering the vaccine roll-out, with the first doses distributed to the states proportionate to their populations, he said.

President-elect Joe Biden and his advisers have voiced concern that President Donald Trump’s continued refusal to share vaccine data and distribution plans with Biden’s transition team could cause delays after the next administration takes office on Jan. 20.

Slaoui said he hoped for a smooth hand-off and did not expect the vaccination effort to be derailed.

Graphic: Where coronavirus cases are rising and falling in the United States – https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-TRENDS/dgkvlgkrkpb/index.html

SURGING CASES AND SUPER-SPREADERS

Details on the timeline emerged as coronavirus infections continued to rage out of control across the country, further straining hospitals besieged with growing numbers of COVID-19 patients.

Public health experts worried that the surge will only worsen, as millions of Americans prepared to travel and congregate in family groups for Thanksgiving celebrations, despite warnings that they stay home to avoid spreading the disease.

Many people were scrambling to get tested before Thursday’s holiday, leading to long lines at screening sites in New York City and elsewhere. Most pharmacies offering COVID-19 tests in suburban Chicago were fully booked.

“I believe COVID rates will increase just as I believe most New Yorkers will put on weight,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo lamented at a Sunday press conference.

Cuomo also said the city was investigating reports of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish wedding that drew some 7,000 people to a reception in Brooklyn, video footage of which showed throngs of maskless guests celebrating shoulder to shoulder.

The United States surpassed 12 million COVID-19 cases on Saturday, as the nation’s death toll climbed to more than 255,000 since the pandemic began.

Reuters data showed the pace of new infections quickening, with nearly 1 million more cases documented over the past six days, compared with the eight days it took to get from 10 million to 11 million cases.

The epicenter of the U.S. pandemic has also shifted in recent weeks, with the Midwest and Rockies leading the nation in terms of rapidly escalating infections.

“It’s really spread across the country,” Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “It’s not just in big cities, but it’s in rural locations, small towns.”

While the prospect of effective vaccines has brought new hope to a country whose social and economic life has been upended by the virus, public distrust of inoculations runs high. In a recent Gallup poll, just 58% of Americans said they planned to get a COVID-19 vaccine, up from 50% in September.

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said vaccine distribution also brings formidable logistical challenges.

“Vaccines don’t save lives, vaccinations safe lives,” he told ABC on Sunday. “The much bigger step is actually getting those vaccinations to the American people. That’s hard.”

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Will Dunham; Writing by Lisa Shumaker and Steve Gorman; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Tags: Coronavirus Outbreak
Share196Tweet123
Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is an international news organization.

Advertisements

Top Stories June 10th
Top Stories June 7th
Top Stories June 6th
Top Stories June 3rd
Top Stories May 30th
Top Stories May 29th
Top Stories May 24th
Top Stories May 23rd
Top Stories May 21st
Top Stories May 17th

Join Over 6M Subscribers

We’re organizing an online community to elevate trusted voices on all sides so that you can be fully informed.





IJR

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Trusted Voices On All Sides

  • About Us
  • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy
  • Subscribe to IJR

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Top Stories June 10th Top Stories June 7th Top Stories June 6th Top Stories June 3rd Top Stories May 30th Top Stories May 29th Top Stories May 24th Top Stories May 23rd Top Stories May 21st Top Stories May 17th