Plans for the rapid distribution of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are in place, beginning in mid-December, and only await the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) issuance of Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), expected to be granted at a Dec. 10 meeting of the FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. The Trump Administration’s medical and logistics experts have presented these plans at different venues this week.
Speaking yesterday on Fox News’ “The Daily Briefing” program, Dr. Robert Redfield of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported he expected the vaccine distribution to begin in mid-December, and that it would initially be made available “in a hierarchical way.” The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices emphasized that frontline healthcare workers will be first in line, followed by essential workers, adults with high-risk medical conditions, and those 65 and older. Redfield said he expected that “we’ll have about 40 million doses of vaccine before the end of the year. That’s enough to vaccinate 20 million people.” This will continue through January and February and by March, “we’ll start to see vaccine available for the general public.”
