A Vaccine In The US May Start Injecting In December, But It Will Also Depend Heavily On Trump's Transition To Biden

JAKARTA - United States (US) health workers are one of the recommended groups to get priority for the first COVID-19 vaccine in the country. Authorities promised the vaccine could be injected within a day or two of regulatory approvals issued in December.

Quoting Reuters on Monday, November 23, about 70 percent of the US population's 330 million need to be inoculated to achieve "herd" immunity from the virus. It was said by Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific advisor for Operation Warp Speed.

Slaoui said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is likely to give approval in mid-December for the distribution of vaccines manufactured by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech. The agreement was the largest inoculation campaign in US history.

FDA outside advisors are scheduled to meet on December 10 to review Pfizer's emergency use of its vaccine, which the company says is 95 percent effective against infection from the highly contagious respiratory virus. The second pharmaceutical company, Moderna Inc is expected to seek separate approval in December for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Appearing on several news shows, Slaoui sketched a timetable for delivering Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from FDA authorization into the hands of those who would be the first to receive it.

"Within 24 hours of approval, the vaccine will be transferred and placed in an area where each state will tell us where they want the vaccine dose," Slaoui said.

"So I hope, maybe on the second day after the approval on December 11 or 12, that the first person will be immunized across the United States," he added.

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

Slaoui said they may include doctors, nurses and frontline emergency medical personnel, as well as individuals considered to be at highest risk of developing severe illness and death from the virus, such as the elderly. Public health authorities in each state will be responsible for running the vaccine rollout, with the first dose distributed to the state in proportion to the population.

Beyond Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna, British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which is developing the vaccine with the University of Oxford, said it expected preliminary results by the end of December. The vaccine is reportedly very promising for older people.

The prospect of one or more safe and effective vaccines has increased pressure on President Donald Trump's administration to officially begin the transition of power to US President-elect Joe Biden.

Biden was projected to win the election more than two weeks ago. But Trump refused to give up and blocked the way for the authorities to work with Biden's team, who say they are moving ahead with the transition without vital information from government agencies.

Both Slaoui and Dr Anthony Fauci, leading infectious disease experts and members of the US COVID-19 task force, stressed the need for a smooth presidential transition to ensure a speedy vaccine rollout.

Biden, who will take office on January 20, warned last week: More people may die if we don't coordinate.