A top vaccine adviser at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Saturday that Americans could begin receiving coronavirus vaccines as early as Friday of this week. James Hildreth, a member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee, told NBC News that a decision on whether or not to approve Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine could come within the week, with distribution and vaccination happening almost immediately afterward.
“We’ll spend the day on Thursday reviewing the data from Pfizer, and at the end of the day, a vote will be taken. So, by the end of the day next Thursday, there could be a decision made about the vaccine,” Hildreth said. “If the FDA commissioner decides to issue approval, the EUA, on that day when the vote is taken, as early as Friday of next week, we could see vaccinations happening across the country.”
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Pfizer officially requested an emergency use authorization on Nov. 20 after initial Phase 3 clinical trial results showed that the vaccine is more than 95% effective. On Thursday, a panel of FDA advisors will meet to assess the vaccine. During the meeting, according to Business Insider, Pfizer will present the safety and efficacy data for its shot and answer questions from experts. The panel will then advise the FDA whether the vaccine should be approved in the US or not, with the FDA expected to follow the panel’s recommendations.
Speaking to CBS News Sunday, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief adviser of the U.S. vaccine effort, said that he expected the FDA to approve the vaccine. Slaoui told host Margaret Brennan that once approved, the vaccine will start to be distributed within 24 hours, noting, “the first vaccine shipment will happen on the day after the vaccine is approved. That’s how we planned it. If the vaccine is approved on the 10th or the 11th, the minute it’s approved, the shipments will start.”
The vaccine, however, will not immediately be available to all Americans, as there will initially be a limited supply. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) released distribution recommendations last week. In a vote of 13-1, they recommended that health workers and residents of long-term care facilities should be the first to receive a vaccine, The Hill reports. Those older than 65, essential workers, and those with underlying medical conditions will receive the vaccine under the second phase, according to the recommendations. Slaoui said that people should not expect lives to begin returning to normal until “about April or May.”
