Initial shipments of the second coronavirus vaccine authorized in the U.S. on Sunday left a distribution center, a boost that was desperately needed as the nation worked to bring the Coronavirus pandemic under control. The trucks left the factory in the Memphis area with the vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health. The much-needed shootings are expected to take place starting Monday, just three days after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized emergency launch.
Later Sunday, a committee of experts will discuss who should be next in line for early doses of the Modern vaccine and a similar one from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech of Germany. The Pfizer shots were first sent a week ago and it began which will be used the next day, launching the largest vaccination campaign in the country.
Public health experts say the traits (and others in progress) are the only way to stop a virus that has spread wildly. Nationwide, more than 219,000 people a day test positive for the virus, which has killed more than 314,000 in the United States and nearly 1.7 million worldwide.
Paul Sancya / AP
The Pfizer and Moderna shots sent so far and coming out over the next few weeks are almost all aimed at health workers and long-term care home residents, according to the Advisory Committee’s advice on immunization practices.
This group meets on Sunday to discuss who should get the available doses after these first shots have been given.
There will not be enough prey for the general population until spring, so doses will be rationed at least over the next few months.
Panel members opt to put “essential workers” at the forefront, because people like bus drivers, grocery store employees, and others are the ones who get infected most often. But other experts say people 65 and older should be next, along with people with certain medical conditions, because they are the Americans who die at the highest rates.
The advice of the panel of experts is almost always approved by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Regardless of what the CDC says, there will be differences from state to state, because their health departments have different ideas about who should be closer to the front line.
Both the new Modern vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine require two several-week separation doses. The second dose should be from the same company as the first. Both vaccines appeared safe and strongly protective in large yet unfinished studies.