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(Reuters) – US President Donald Trump and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disagreed on Wednesday about when a COVID-19 vaccine would be widely available. Trump has said that one could initially be available for the Nov. 3 election, while the CDC director said the vaccines are likely to reach the general public by mid-2021, an assessment more in line with most of the experts.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR A VACCINE TO BE AVAILABLE IN GENERAL?
General availability is when any American who wants the vaccine can get it. There are currently no COVID-19 vaccines approved by US regulators, although some are in late-stage trials to show they are safe and effective.
Experts estimate that at least 70% of the roughly 330 million Americans would need to be immune through a vaccine or previous infection to achieve what is known as herd immunity, which occurs when enough people are immune to prevent the spread of the virus. those who cannot get a vaccine.
HOW LONG BEFORE VACCINE PRODUCTION IS COMPLETELY INCREASED?
Most vaccines in development will require two doses per person.
The CDC anticipates that 35 to 45 million doses of vaccines from the first two companies to receive authorization will be available in the United States by the end of this year. The current leaders are Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc.
Drug makers have been more ambitious with their calculations. AstraZeneca Plc has said it could deliver up to 300 million doses of its experimental vaccine in the United States by October. Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE have said they expect to have 100 million doses available worldwide by the end of 2020, but did not specify how much of that went to the United States. Moderna has said it is on track to produce between 500 million and 1 billion doses a year starting in 2021.
Getting enough doses to inoculate everyone in the United States is likely late in 2021. CDC Director Robert Redfield told a congressional hearing Wednesday that vaccines may not be widely available to everyone. in the United States until the second or third quarter of next year. .
WHO WOULD RECEIVE AN APPROVED VACCINE FIRST?
The CDC’s decision will likely generally follow the recommendations of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The CDC has said that the first vaccines can go to healthcare workers, people at increased risk of severe COVID-19, and essential workers.
It is unclear when a vaccine will be available for children, as major drug manufacturers have not yet included them in late-stage trials. Pfizer and BioNTech have come forward to regulators looking to start recruiting volunteers as young as 16 for vaccine studies.
WHICH COMPANIES WILL LIKELY GIVE A VACCINE RAPIDLY?
Pfizer has said it could have compelling evidence that its vaccine works by the end of October. Moderna says it could have similar evidence in November. Vaccines must first be approved or licensed for emergency use by US regulators.
Drug manufacturers have already started manufacturing supplies of their candidate vaccines so that they are ready as soon as they get the go-ahead. The US Department of Defense and CDC plan to begin vaccine distribution within 24 hours of regulatory clearance.
Several drug makers, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax Inc., have said they expect to produce at least 1 billion doses of their vaccines next year if they get regulatory clearance.
Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmithKline Plc are also working on developing a vaccine that they say could be licensed next year.
(Information from Carl O’Donnell and Michael Erman in New York; additional information from Caroline Humer; edited by Peter Henderson and Bill Berkrot)
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