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WASHINGTON: The United States expects to begin a comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination program in early December, the head of the government’s coronavirus vaccination effort said Sunday (Nov. 22) as cases rise in the worst-affected nation. .
The start of vaccinations could be a crucial turning point in the battle against the virus that has claimed more than 255,000 lives in the US, the highest number on record in the world since it left China at the end of the year. past.
“Our plan is to be able to send the vaccines to immunization sites within 24 hours of approval” by the US Food and Drug Administration, Moncef Slaoui told CNN, pointing to possible dates of 11-11. December 12th.
FDA’s vaccine advisers are reportedly meeting Dec. 10 to discuss approval of vaccines that pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Moderna say are at least 95 percent effective.
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Worldwide, almost 1.4 million people have died this year and at least 58 million cases have been recorded.
Slaoui estimated that 20 million people in the United States could be vaccinated in December, and 30 million per month after that.
‘IMMUNITY OF THE HERD’ IN MAY?
He said that by May, with potentially 70 percent of the population vaccinated, the country could achieve “herd immunity,” meaning the virus can no longer spread widely, and people can get closer to resuming their way. life before the coronavirus. lifetime.
But Slaoui added a note of caution, saying: “I really hope and hope to see the level of negative perception of the vaccine decrease and the acceptance of the people increase.”
“That will be essential to help us.”
A recent Gallup poll showed that four in 10 Americans still say they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine, although that’s slightly less than five in 10 surveyed in September.
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Slaoui said he thought it would help persuade vaccine skeptics to know that trials have shown new vaccines to be 95 percent effective, well above the 50 percent level of a previous goal for approval of the vaccine.
Officials have yet to announce which population groups will receive the vaccine first, although healthcare workers are sure to receive priority, followed by vulnerable groups like the elderly.
Slaoui said that while the trials had only ensured short-term safety, decades of experience showed that almost all adverse effects of the vaccines occurred within 40 days of their administration, while the current trials covered 60 days protectively. .
With the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, Slaoui added, there were no serious adverse effects in that period.
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For now, the vaccines have not been tested in young children, but the doctor said trials are underway, with the possibility that young children can be vaccinated from the second trimester of 2021, and babies do so later.
Countries around the world, as well as international organizations, were developing plans for the global distribution of these vaccines and possibly others that are still in development.
The G20 countries, at a virtual meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia, plan to commit to “spare no effort” to ensure a fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines around the world, according to a draft statement seen by AFP on Sunday.
However, the statement did not provide details on how the effort would be financed.
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