Both pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna claim their vaccines to combat COVID-19 were found to be more than 90% effective in clinical trials and are now waiting for federal approval and authorization to distribute the vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will examine the data regarding the effectiveness, safety, and production of each vaccine and an advisory committee will then vote on giving them the green light.
According to The Washington Post, by December the FDA may approve one or both of the candidates. Afterwards The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will determine a plan on prioritizing distribution, according to USA Today.
ACIP has posted guidelines on its website on how it plans to conduct the process.
Dr. Arthur Reingold, division head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, who is an internationally known expert in infectious disease, told USA Today that health care providers, first responders, the military, political leaders, senior citizens, pregnant women, and children are usually at the head of the list to get vaccinated.
By the end of the year, it is projected that Pfizer and Moderna will be able to provide 40 million doses of their vaccines, enough to provide the required two doses to 20 million people.
Both vaccines would be the first that use messenger RNA technology to be authorized by the FDA, according to the Post. Instead of using weak or dead versions of a virus, the new candidates use a genetic code from the virus that teaches our immune cells to recognize the enemy. That is one of the reasons scientists were able to create the vaccines so quickly. Messenger RNA is not as time-consuming as traditional vaccine production.
So far, the vaccines appear to be safe. According to the New York Post, volunteers who took part in the phase 3 trials of the Pfizer drug experienced flu-like side effects such as muscle aches, fever, and headaches. Moderna said that side effects of their vaccine included pain at the injection site, muscle aches, and headaches.
According to the Post, the federal government has already bought hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine and says it will distribute them at no charge. Healthcare experts say that even after vaccination, people should continue to socially distance and wear masks because it will take time to immunize enough Americans to halt the spread of the virus.
According to The Hill, a comprehensive report outlining the “efficient manufacturing, financing, and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine,” said that given the recommendation of two doses per person, we’ll need 462 million doses to achieve herd immunity and 660 million doses for the entire U.S. population.
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