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(CNN) –– An advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted to recommend the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine against covid-19 in people over 16 this Saturday. . The decision came a day after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the emergency use authorization for the vaccine.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) vote brings the country one step closer to vaccinating millions of people.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield must accept the committee’s recommendation before the vaccine can be administered. It is expected to do so in the next few hours.
After months of development, emergency use was authorized following the recommendation of the FDA’s Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biologicals, a Pfizer spokesperson confirmed to CNN late Friday.
“Licensing our vaccine in the United States was one of our most important goals from the beginning,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said in an exclusive interview with CNN at the company’s headquarters in Mainz, Germany.
Here’s what we know about the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, following FDA approval.
Who would get the Pfizer vaccine first?
Once the CDC accepts the recommendation, vaccinations can begin.
However, the ACIP had previously recommended that healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities should be the first groups to receive a vaccine when the emergency use authorization is issued. Precisely, the initial shipments of the vaccine from Pfizer would be limited. So states must prioritize who should get vaccinated first.
Both groups are “exceptionally high risk,” according to Dr. José Romero, president of the ACIP. Romero voted earlier this month to recommend that those two stocks be included in what he called Phase 1a of the distribution plan.
Keeping doctors and nurses healthy will be important in the ongoing fight against the virus, which will go on for months. Even after the authorization of a vaccine. But, Romero indicated that the first vaccination group also includes other people who work in health institutions. For example, those who deliver food and perform housework.
“Anyone who works in a health care institution who may have contact with a person who has COVID-19 should receive the vaccine,” Romero previously told CNN.
Residents of long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, also need protection. So far, these places account for about 40% of coronavirus deaths in the US.
General Gustave Perna, director of operations for the White House’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine initiative, previously said he believed that the administration of the vaccine will begin within 96 hours of authorization.
CVS, which is preparing for vaccinations at long-term care facilities, said Dec. 21 would be the closest date that the vaccine could begin to be administered at these locations.
“We will be on the premises that day, in the states that decide to start as soon as possible,” said spokesman Ethan Slavin.
The FDA is expected to make a decision in the coming days on another possible vaccine against covid-19: the one being developed by Moderna. If the latter is also authorized, it is possible that 20 million people can be vaccinated in the coming weeks. This was highlighted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States, Alex Azar, in conversation with CNN this Wednesday.
When will the vaccine be widely available?
CDC is evaluating a four-phase plan to distribute vaccines. Phase 1a would be followed by Phases 1b and 1c. These groups could include essential workers at high risk of infection, other first responders and people with underlying conditions, who are at increased risk of complications from COVID-19 and death.
But, it will probably be several months before the vaccine is widely available to the rest of the population.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained how long the vaccination might take. In conversation with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, he said that the groups that would receive the vaccine in December, January, February and March will likely include those who are “high priority groups.”
“I would project that by the time April comes it will be… ‘open season’. In the sense that anyone, even groups that are not high priority could be vaccinated, ”Fauci said.
In the meantime, it is important that people continue to wear masks and maintain physical detachment.
How many doses will be available?
At this time, the federal government has secured just 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Although an agreement may be reached to secure more.
However, it is important to note that the Pfizer vaccine requires two doses to be 95% effective. Also, those doses have to be administered weeks apart. So 100 million doses would vaccinate half of the people.
Again, not all of those doses will be available at the same time. Azar said earlier this month that 6.4 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine would be allocated for shipment in the first week. The first shipment would include half the doses, followed by the other half three weeks later.
For starters, states will receive shipments of the vaccine once a week. This was indicated this Friday by the chief adviser of Operation Warp Speed of the White House, Moncef Slaoui. Additionally, governors will be informed a week in advance how many doses they will receive.
The number of doses will increase weekly because manufacturing will increase, Slaoui explained to CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Slaoui said he thinks most doses will be injected within three or four days, but after that, “I think it will take a week.”
There are also a number of vaccines in development by other companies. Azar told CNN that the United States has the capacity to buy up to 3 billion doses of vaccines from six manufacturers. Among them, Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi / GSK and Novavax.
How will the Pfizer vaccine be shipped?
Sending the vaccine will be a daunting task, which is already underway.
The first shipments of the vaccine will be shipped from a Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The companies UPS and FedEx have said they are ready to help with distribution after authorization.
The vaccines will then fly across the country. The Federal Aviation Administration has indicated that its air traffic controllers will give priority to flights that carry the vaccines.
FedEx and UPS will participate in the transportation of the vaccines by land, taking them to the facilities where they will be administered. For example, hospitals and long-term care facilities.
But Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored in incredibly cold temperatures, further complicating delivery logistics.
The vaccine will be shipped in special containers packed with dry ice. Upon arrival at their destination, they must be stored in ultra-cold freezers at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
What are the known side effects?
Pfizer clinical trials have shown no serious side effects.
According to an information document released by the FDA’s Vaccine Advisory Committee, the most common side effects were reactions in the body at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, and fever.
Serious adverse reactions occurred in less than 4.6% of the trial participants. Also, they were less common in older adults compared to younger participants.
Health authorities in the UK, where the vaccine began to be injected earlier this week, said Wednesday that people with a “significant history of allergic reactions” should not receive the vaccine. The warning came after two health workers “responded adversely” after getting vaccinated.
It’s also unclear how safe the vaccine is for other groups, such as pregnant women and children under the age of 16.
CNN’s Alaa Elassar, Ben Tinker, Jacqueline Howard, Maggie Fox, Elizabeth Cohen, Jacqueline Howard, Jamie Gumbrecht, Fred Pleitgen and Shelby Lin Erdman contributed to this report.
