The United States will begin its vaccination against Covid-19 with the immunizer developed by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech, today, December 14th.
On December 13th, the vaccine received the approval of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a US health agency, for the start of the campaign. Health professionals on the front lines they must be the first to receive their doses.
“I can’t wait to receive mine,” Angela Mattingly, 57, a chambermaid at the University of Iowa Hospital, told The New York Times. She is among the officials scheduled to be vaccinated as early as Monday morning.
CDC Director Robert R. Redfield celebrated on Sunday the approval of the immunizer at a critical time, for new cases of the new coronavirus to rise in the United States. This Saturday, the country recorded 3,309 deaths from Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours.
“I was proud to sign the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to use the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in people aged 16 and over. This official CDC recommendation follows Friday’s FDA decision to authorize the use emergency vaccine,“ says Redfield.
“As Covid-19 cases continue to increase across the US, the CDC recommendation comes at a critical time. The initial vaccination is scheduled to start on Monday, and this is the next step in our efforts to protect Americans, reduce the impact of the pandemic and help restore normality to our lives and our country. “ he continued.
In the organ’s evaluation, published on Sunday, the Pfizer vaccine is highly effective in all age groups, sex, race, ethnicity and among people with “underlying medical conditions”, as well as among participants with evidence of previous Sars- CoV-2 (the new coronavirus).
The head of Operation Warp Speed, an initiative to accelerate vaccine development, Moncef Slaoui, said that the United States intends to have about 40 million doses of the vaccine distributed by the end of December, which would include the newly authorized vaccine from Pfizer and one from Moderna. The expectation is that this second immunizer will get authorization for emergency use this week.
Another 50 to 80 million doses will be distributed in January, and the same number in February, said Slaoui. Both vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, require two doses per person.
On Saturday afternoon, a vote was taken among CDC advisers to evaluate the vaccine’s recommendation and, with 11 votes in favour and three abstentions, the committee approved the immunizer, which was released for emergency use on Friday 11th by American drug regulatory agency, the FDA.
With this authorization formalized by the agency, the US government plans to accelerate vaccination in the coming weeks and months.
US Army General Gustave Perna told a news conference on Saturday that the first doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine would be delivered to 145 locations across the country on Monday 14th.
The remaining 636 delivery locations selected by the states and territories of the United States will receive the doses on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th.
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