Your Top 5 Coronavirus Vaccine Questions Answered Here
2. When will the first vaccines be distributed?
Moncef Slaoui, PhD, advisor for Operation Warp Speed, recently declared that the vaccines could be available to high-risk groups (essential workers such as those in healthcare) within 24 hours after the FDA approves an EUA.
However, we still don’t know how long it will take for the FDA to approve a vaccine candidate.
3. How many doses will be available by New Year’s Eve?
Vaccine developers Moderna and Pfizer have started mass-manufacturing doses of the vaccine while the phase 3 trials were still ongoing.
Pfizer officials are estimating to have 50 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine available to the world by the end of 2020, with another 1.3 billion doses about to be manufactured for 2021.
Collaborator Moderna also expects to deliver approximately 20 million doses to the U.S. by New Year’s Eve and another 1 billion doses available worldwide in 2021.
Remember that this vaccine is administered in two doses. Even so, about 13 million Americans could be vaccinated this month alone if the FDA is quick to approve both vaccines.
