The first vaccines for COVID-19 could be given as early as Monday (December 14) after a key panel of medical experts recommended that the Food and Drug Administration grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's vaccine.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the FDA is expected to approve the drug in the coming days, allowing the U.S. to begin distributing the vaccine.
"At this point, it is really a matter of working out some final details," he said on Mornings with Maria. "Within the next couple of days, it ought to come out, and we'll start having Pfizer ship that vaccine to where governors have told us."
Before the vaccine can be given to people, it must be approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An advisory committee is scheduled to meet on Friday (December 11) and then vote on Sunday whether to approve the vaccine. If they approve Pfizer's vaccine, it can start to be given out as early as Monday or Tuesday.
Pfizer plans to ship the vaccine to 636 sites around the country, where health officials will begin administering the first-round of doses. Healthcare workers and people living in long-term care facilities will be the first in line to get vaccinated.
The U.S. plans to distribute 20 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine by the end of the year and more than 100 million doses by the end of February.
"I think it's quite realistic by the end of February into March, our governors will start doing more general vaccination efforts where you're really going to your Kroger, your CVS, your Walgreens, and getting your COVID vaccine very much like you get your flu vaccine," Azar said.
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