US aims to vaccinate 100 million against Covid-19 by end-Feb

The push should start within weeks, when vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-NIH are expected to be approved. PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON • The United States hopes to immunise 100 million people against Covid-19 by the end of February, a top official has said, which is approximately 40 per cent of the country's adult population.

The push should start within weeks when vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are expected to be approved.

Each vaccine requires two doses, the second after three weeks and four weeks, respectively.

"Between mid-December and the end of February, we will have potentially immunised 100 million people," Dr Moncef Slaoui, scientific adviser to the US government's Operation Warp Speed (OWS) programme, told reporters on Wednesday.

This, he added, would cover the at-risk population comprising the elderly, healthcare workers and first responders.

There will be an ample amount of vaccine to immunise three million residents of long-term care facilities this month, said the former pharmaceutical executive, who was recruited by the Trump administration in spring.

The rest of the first tranche would be enough to reach the bulk of healthcare workers, if states and other territories agree with federal recommendations to prioritise this population.

As production of the two vaccines expands, 20 million will be reached this month, 30 million next month and 50 million in February, making 100 million in total.

This figure, however, excludes other vaccines by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca-Oxford which are in the late stages of development.

Dr Slaoui said both vaccines could produce their results between the end of this month and the middle of next month, paving the way for emergency approval by February if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives the green light.

Dr Slaoui added that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine might be evaluated solely on the basis of a large US clinical trial involving 15,000 people, and not with data from Britain and Brazil, where the data has been marred by a dosage issue.

While the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved by Britain on Wednesday, the process is slower and more public in the US.

The FDA will not grant an emergency use authorisation (EUA) before a public meeting of an advisory committee is held next Thursday. For the Moderna-NIH vaccine, a similar meeting will take place on Dec 17.

Officials say the logistics have been put in place to start distributing the vaccines, if approved, almost right away.

General Gustave Perna, chief operations officer of OWS, said: "When an EUA decision comes, distribution to the American people becomes immediate within 24 hours, that is our goal."

Right now, he is expecting to deliver the first doses on Dec 15.

However, some US healthcare workers are sceptical about taking a vaccine that was developed in record time - even as the pandemic rages on.

Some want more time, despite assurances from experts that they trust the vaccine vetting process carried out by the FDA.

"I think I would take the vaccine later on, but right now, I am a little leery of it," nurse Yolanda Dodson, 55, told Agence France-Presse.

Vaccine studies so far "look promising, but I don't think there is enough data yet", said Ms Dodson, who works at Montefiore Hospital in New York City.

Ms Diana Torres, a nurse at a Manhattan hospital, is particularly suspicious of vaccines rushed for approval under the Trump administration.

She said: "This is a vaccine that was developed in less than a year, and approved under the same administration and government agencies that allowed the virus to spread like a wildfire.

"This time around, I will pass and watch how it unfolds."

Data from clinical trials have shown that both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-NIH vaccines are about 95 per cent effective.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 04, 2020, with the headline US aims to vaccinate 100 million against Covid-19 by end-Feb. Subscribe