The first doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will reportedly begin being dispersed by mid-December if the vaccine receives Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization.
Operation Warp Speed officials told reporters Tuesday that the Health and Human Services Agency is working on recommendations for prioritization, according to The Hill. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said health care workers, nursing home patients and those who are vulnerable should receive the vaccine first, The Hill reports.
State officials were informed Friday of how many doses they would receive in the first distribution of vaccines, with states allowed to make their own decisions as to who will be the first to receive the vaccine, according to The Hill. Gen. Gustave Perna said the vaccine would be allocated to states based on their overall population, according to The Washington Post.
“[Governors] will decide whom the vaccine is given to,” Azar said, according to The Hill. “We hope that our recommendations will carry weight with them but at the end of the day they will make that decision.” (RELATED: ‘You Do The Math’: Vince Coglianese Targets Pfizer’s Timing On COVID-19 Vaccine Announcement)
More than 40 million doses of the vaccine is anticipated to be ready by the end of 2020, with Azar saying he expects the vaccine should be ready for the general public by next year, according to the report.
The goal of #OperationWarpSpeed is to produce safe and effective #COVID19 vaccines with the initial doses ready by the end of 2020. Learn more: https://t.co/JKpYRPbnSt #OWS pic.twitter.com/nbn915qqcy
— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) November 24, 2020
Pfizer announced in early November that their vaccine was over 90% effective with no serious safety concerns aside from side effects which included fatigue, chills and fever.
Pfizer submitted an emergency use authorization to the FDA Nov. 20, the company announced.