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Reuters
According to a report, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked health officials in all 50 states to prepare to distribute a possible coronavirus vaccine by November 1.
On Aug. 27, the agency sent documents outlining scenarios for the distribution of two unspecified candidate vaccines for use, according to the New York Times.
The date to distribute the vaccine will be just two days before voters go to vote in the elections, which have been overshadowed by the Corona virus crisis and the economic consequences of its spread.
“The regular period required for obtaining permits is a major barrier to the success of this emergency public health program,” CDC Chief Robert Redfield said in a letter.
“CDC is urgently requesting your help in expediting requests for distribution facilities,” Redfield added.
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Reuters
Robert Redfield, Director of the CDC
The guidelines show that getting the vaccine will be a priority for healthcare workers, national security officials, people over the age of 65, and some ethnic communities known to be at higher risk than others.
Several vaccines are undergoing medical testing and some have reached the final stages of testing.
Earlier, Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, indicated that it is possible to start using a vaccine before completing its tests, if initial results are promising.
But some scholars suspect the CDC’s actions are politically motivated.
“This schedule … is alarming due to the politicization of public health and the possible consequences for the safety of people. It is difficult not to see that there is a push for the vaccine to be available before the elections,” said Saskia Popescu , Arizona Infection Prevention Specialist, to the New York Times.
Currently, three Western companies are conducting third-phase trials for various vaccines on tens of thousands of participants.
These companies are: AstraZeneca, which cooperates with the University of Oxford in Great Britain, and Moderna, which coordinates with the US National Institute of Health, and Pfizer and Biontech, which cooperates with Canada.
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Reuters
Normal procedures are for supervisors conducting the tests to wait, possibly for several months, to verify that the candidate vaccine works and is safe.
However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has indicated that the vaccine may be urgently available before the required testing is completed.
The administration faces mounting accusations from US medical authorities of giving in to political pressure from President Donald Trump, who in electoral polls lags behind his rival, Joe Biden.
Governments around the world hope to reopen economies shaken by measures to contain Covid-19, which has killed more than 850,000 people and infected more than 25 million.
