U.S. vaccinations increase as the second stroke of COVID-19 approaches

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of more hospitals across the country began distributing COVID-19 shots to their workers in a rapidly expanding U.S. vaccination campaign on Tuesday, while a second vaccine was moved to the top of the U.S. government authorization.

A day after the launch of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus shots, the Food and Drug Administration said its preliminary analysis confirmed the efficacy and safety of the vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. A group of outside experts is expected to recommend the formula on Thursday, and the FDA’s green light will arrive soon after.

The Modern vaccine uses the same technology as Pfizer-BioNTech and shows similar protection against COVID-19, but is easier to handle because it does not need to be kept in the freezer below 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 degrees Celsius). .

Another weapon against the outbreak may not arrive soon enough: the death toll in the United States exceeded 300,000 Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University, with some 2,400 people now dying every day on average.

The devastating toll is only expected to grow in the coming weeks, fueled by travel during Christmas and New Year, family reunions and lax adherence to the use of masks and other precautions.

Packed in dry ice, shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine began arriving on Tuesday at more than 400 additional hospitals and other distribution sites.

On Wednesday, health workers at Jacksonville Naval Hospital will begin receiving vaccines, as will UF Health Gainesville employees. Baptist Health said it will likely remain the same next week.

The first 3 million shots are being strictly rationed to front-line health care workers and nursing home patients, with the need for hundreds of millions more shots over the next few months to protect most Americans.

The deployment provided a measure of encouragement to exhausted doctors, nurses and other hospital professionals across the country.

Speaking at a news conference Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Gov. Ron DeSantis reminded the public that the shooting occurs in two doses.

“Both Modern and Pfizer, people think the first shot offers some protection, but obviously you have to get them to have permanent power,” he said.

RELATED: Florida announces delay in delivery of Pfizer vaccine

DeSantis said he plans to reveal more in the near future about vaccines reaching long-term care centers. He believes the FDA will approve the Modern vaccine for emergency use and says that if that happens, the second vaccine could arrive in Florida early next week.

About 6,000 doses of vaccine have arrived in Georgia and are being administered in Chatham, Glynn and surrounding counties. But Georgia health officials say the general public may have to wait until the summer to receive a vaccine.

As vaccines are produced across the country, health experts and Jacksonville area leaders continue to urge everyone to wear a mask, including hundreds of Florida doctors and mayors.

The federal government plans hundreds more shipments over the weekend.

Shootings for nursing home residents will not begin in most states until next week, when some 1,100 vaccine facilities have been set up. Government officials project that 20 million Americans will be able to get their first shots by the end of December and another 30 million in January.

This projection involves a quick release of the Modern Vaccine, which also requires two shots for complete protection. The US government has bought 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and is asking for 200 million doses of Modern serum. If we do not delay production or distribution, it would be enough to vaccinate 150 million Americans by mid-2021.

Anywhere in the world, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is being administered in Britain and Canada. And European Union regulators presented a meeting to evaluate the vaccine until December 21, more than a week ahead of schedule, under pressure from Germany and other countries on the continent.

Examining the first results of a study of 30,000 people, the FDA found that Moderna’s vaccine worked almost the same as Pfizer-BioNTech’s.

The Modern vaccine was more than 94% effective in preventing COVID-19 disease and 86% in people 65 years of age or older. The FDA found no major safety issues. Side effects can include fever, fatigue, and pain as the vaccine boosts the immune system.

Even such an extensive study cannot detect very rare problems. But the FDA carefully looked for signs of allergic reactions after Britain last week reported some possible reactions among people with a history of severe allergies who were shot by Pfizer-BioNTech.

The FDA found no serious allergic reactions in the Modern study. Approximately 1.5% of vaccine recipients and 1.1% who received false shots reported possible minor “hypersensitivity” reactions.

Both the features of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are the so-called mRNA vaccines. They are not made with the coronavirus itself, that is, there is no chance that anyone can catch it from the prey. Instead, the vaccine contains a piece of genetic code that trains the immune system to recognize the protein punctured on the surface of the virus.

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Associated Press writers Tamara Lush, Holly Ramer and Candice Choi contributed to this report. Porter reported from Newark, New Jersey.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.