The first federally recognized coronavirus vaccines in American arsenal were administered on Monday, struggling to contain the virus that killed nearly 300,000 Americans in the country.
ICU nurse Sandra Lindsay was the first New York State to receive the shot. Livestream by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The Covid-19 vaccine, developed by German company Bioentech and its United States partner Pfizer, was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday night.
Trucks shipped Pfizer’s plant at Portage, Michigan on Sunday, and the company expects to deliver 2.96 million doses to 2,636 predefined locations by the end of this week.
This marks the beginning of a major logistical challenge, with cargo trucks and aircraft becoming fans across the country. Whereas, in expert boxes filled with dry ice, these vaccines must be kept at minus 94 Fahrenheit.
“We now believe that the first individuals in the Commonwealth will be vaccinated here tomorrow morning,” Gov. of Kentucky said. Andy Basheer said in a statement on Sunday. “We are less than 24 hours away from the beginning of the end of this virus.”
“Everything is on time, there are no barriers and we are very excited,” said Wes Wheeler, president of UPS Healthcare, which is doing mass deliveries with rival FedEx.
Yet, liberation is a long way off.
The majority of Americans will not be vaccinated until next year. And it will also take some time to dig into the epidemic that kills thousands of people in the U.S. every day – more than ever.
Medical workers will struggle not only to distribute the vaccine in rural areas, but also to reassure suspicious members of the public that the shots are safe.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Monday sought to reassure Americans, saying “today” shows that the vaccine “went through every aspect of the FDA process with integrity and transparent data.”
“If you are recommended to take it and it is available to you, please get it, protect yourself and protect those around you.”
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Asked how people would be vaccinated and how quickly they were asked, Azar often said that it was up to the governors of our nation to decide that specialty.
Over the weekend, General Gustave Parna, Chief Operating Officer of War Operations Worm Speed, compared the distribution operations to the 1944 Normandy landings, beginning to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe from the Allied invasion.
“D-Day was a turning point in World War II. It was the beginning of the end – and we are still there today,” Parna said in a briefing on Saturday. “But make no mistake, it was not the end. For months and months hard battles came and it took hard work, courage and strength to finally achieve victory.”
Meanwhile, congressional leaders have set a Friday deadline for the government to pass legislation to fund it, and they say the Covid-19 aid package should be attached to it. However, there are differences between Democrats and Republicans over what should be included in the deal.
U.S. The vaccine rollout in will prioritize high-risk populations such as hospital staff and nursing home staff and residents. It is not clear who will be preferred in the second phase. On Monday, 145 sites will receive the vaccine, 425 on Tuesday and 66 on Wednesday, making the remaining initial shipments, he said.
It mirrors what has already happened in the United Kingdom, which last week became the first country to provide clinically valid vaccines for patients.
Appeared to frustrate President Donald Trump, calling the FDA a “big, old, slow tortoise.” In a tweet on Friday, And its Commissioner, Dr. Step. Stephen M. Hahn requested, “Vaccinate Dam now” and “Stop playing sports and start saving lives !!!”
The FDA has repeatedly denied this. “We don’t think this could have come out a week ago,” Hahn told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “We followed our process.”
The Pfizer board member also said the Trump administration provided an opportunity to buy more vaccines when the opportunity arose.
The U.S. has ordered at least 100 million doses of the Bintech-Pfizer vaccine, with the option to purchase another 500 million. Of all the vaccines currently in development, it has pre-ordered for 800 million doses – enough to inoculate its population several times over.
Global campaigners are concerned about that trend in rich countries, who say poor countries are prepared to wait a long time because rich countries take care of them first.
