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- Pfizer and Moderna have reported independent candidate vaccines that are more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection in people who participated in phase 3 clinical trials.
- Millions of doses of both vaccines could be produced by the end of 2020.
- Doctors explain the logistics of distributing a COVID-19 vaccine nationwide, who will receive it first, and when to expect availability.
There has been great progress in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer, a biopharmaceutical company, revealed on November 9 that its vaccine candidate is more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in people who received the vaccine as part of its stage 3 clinical trial. One week later, on November 16, November, the biotech company Moderna shared that their The candidate vaccine is almost 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.
The news is promising, especially as new coronavirus infections continue to hit record highs in the US, but it raises an important question: when will a COVID-19 vaccine actually be distributed? And who will get it first? There are no dates set in stone at this time, but experts say the vaccine will start rolling out sooner than most people think. Here is everything we know so far.
First, what should I know about the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines?
Pfizer shared in early November that its candidate vaccine was more than 90% effective in keeping people in phase 3 clinical trials safe from COVID-19 infection. The Pfizer study, which has enrolled 43,538 participants, has reported no serious side effects or safety concerns.
The vaccine uses a new technology called messenger RNA (mRNA) to create an immune response in people after receiving two doses of the vaccine. Pfizer says it should be able to do up to 50 million doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
Moderna’s vaccine is also in a phase 3 clinical trial, and its early data is even more promising. The clinical trial, known as the COVE study, enrolled more than 30,000 people in the US and found that the vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection in those who received two doses.
Like the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna’s candidate uses mRNA to create an immune response and no safety concerns have been reported. (It’s important to note: both vaccines cannot infect someone or make them sick with COVID-19.) Moderna says it can produce 20 million doses of its vaccine by the end of 2020 and 500 million to 1 billion doses globally in 2021.
How will a COVID-19 vaccine be handled and distributed?
“There are significant logistical challenges for the vaccine to be distributed in all parts of the country and the world,” says Amesh A. Adalja, MD, principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. This includes equitable distribution and ensuring that diverse populations can be reached.
The vaccine must first be manufactured and then shipped to the places that have registered to receive it. “The Pfizer vaccine requires special shipping and handling because it needs to be kept very, very cold,” explains William Schaffner, MD, infectious disease specialist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “It won’t go to your average doctor’s office or pharmacy, they won’t be able to store it.” Instead, it will have to be distributed to locations with special storage containers (these need to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius, which is colder than winter in Antarctica, reports NPR).
The Moderna vaccine, however, appears to be handled “the same way normal vaccines are handled,” says Dr. Schaffner. That means it can be shipped on dry ice and stored at normal freezing temperatures (minus 20 degrees Celsius) in pharmacies and doctor’s offices.
The vaccine will be free, he notes, because it was financed with taxpayer dollars. However, there may be administration costs for providers such as doctor’s offices and pharmacies. (It is not clear at this time if insurance companies will cover that.)
Who will get the COVID-19 vaccine first?
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published a framework for this in October. Here’s what the layout will look like, although nothing has been confirmed yet:
—Phase 1a: This includes Frontline healthcare workers, workers who provide healthcare facility services (such as transportation and environmental services) who are also at risk of exposure to body fluids or aerosols, and first responders. The group constitutes approximately 5% of the population.
—Phase 1b: This includes people of all ages with underlying conditions that put them at significantly higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness or death. Older adults (65 years and older) are also included in this group. It is approximately 10% of the population.
-Phase 2: This group includes K-12 teachers and school staff, as well as child care workers. Workers in the food supply system (chefs, supermarket workers) and those who work in public transport will also be included. They constitute approximately 30 to 35% of the population.
-Phase 3: This group includes young adults, children, and workers in industries such as colleges and universities, hotels, banks, exercise facilities, and factories “that are important to the functioning of society and pose a moderately high risk of exposure because there are likely to be some protection measures implemented in these work environments. “It covers approximately 40 to 45% of the population.
—Phase 4: This includes everyone else in the US who did not have access to the vaccine in earlier phases.
When will the COVID-19 vaccine be available?
Based on what both vaccine makers have said, it looks like the first rounds of the vaccine will be distributed by the end of the year, says Thomas Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York. “Assuming the security data looks good, I think we will begin distribution in late December or early January,” he says.
During this time, the vaccine is more likely to be distributed to front-line healthcare workers. “The general public is unlikely to have access to the vaccine until late spring through summer 2021,” Says Dr. Adalja.
It adds that “it is very likely that there are several vaccines that receive authorization for emergency use and are distributed to individual states for vaccine programs.” Therefore, the vaccine you may receive may be different from what your relative who lives on the other side of the country receives.
For now, public health officials are still reviewing the details, but they are moving rapidly as cases continue to rise in the US “More widespread availability will be available by March and April. At least that’s what I hope, ”says Dr. Russo. “But I am optimistic.”
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