FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 1, 2020 • HEALTH • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
health
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo/
When will COVID-19 vaccines be
generally available in the U.S.?
BY CARL O’DONNELL
AND MICHEAL ERMAN/REUTERS
U.S. President Donald Trump and the
head of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) this week disagreed
about when a COVID-19 vaccine
would become widely available. Trump
has said one could initially be available
by the Nov. 3 election, while the CDC
director said vaccines were likely to reach
the general public around mid-2021, an
assessment more in line with most experts.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN
FOR A VACCINE TO BE
GENERALLY AVAILABLE?
General availability is when every
American who wants the vaccine can
get it. Th ere are currently no COVID-
19 vaccines approved by U.S. regulators,
although a handful are in late-stage trials
to prove they are safe and eff ective.
Experts estimate that at least 70 percent of
roughly 330 million Americans would need
to be immune through a vaccine or prior
infection to achieve what is known as “herd
immunity,” which occurs when enough people
are immune to prevent the spread of the
virus to those unable to get a vaccine.
HOW LONG BEFORE
VACCINE PRODUCTION IS
FULLY RAMPED UP?
Most vaccines in development will
require two doses per person.
Th e CDC anticipates that 35 million
to 45 million doses of vaccines from the
fi rst two companies to receive authorization
will be available in the United States
by the end of this year. Th e current frontrunners
are Pfi zer Inc. and Moderna Inc.
Drugmakers have been more ambitious
with their calculations. AstraZeneca
Plc has said it could deliver as many as
300 million doses of its experimental
vaccine in the United States by as early
as October. Pfi zer and German partner
BioNTech SE have said they expect to
have 100 million doses available worldwide
by the end of 2020, but did not specify
how much of that was earmarked for
the United States. Moderna on Friday
said it is on track to make around 20 million
doses by the end of the year and
between 500 million and 1 billion doses a
year beginning in 2021.
Obtaining enough doses to inoculate
everyone in the United States will likely
take until later in 2021. CDC Director
Robert Redfi eld told a congressional
hearing on Wednesday that vaccines may
not be widely available to everyone in the
United States until the second or third
quarter of next year.
WHO WOULD GET AN
APPROVED VACCINE FIRST?
Th e CDC decision will likely broadly follow
recommendations from the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering and
Medicine. Th e CDC has said the earliest
inoculations may go to healthcare workers,
people at increased risk for severe COVID-
19, and essential workers.
It is unclear when a vaccine will be available
for children as major drugmakers have
yet to include them in late-stage trials.
Pfi zer and BioNTech have fi led with regulators
seeking to start recruiting volunteers
as young as 16 for vaccine studies.
WHICH COMPANIES WILL LIKELY
ROLL OUT A VACCINE QUICKLY?
Pfi zer has said it could have compelling
evidence that its vaccine works by the
end of October. Moderna says it could
have similar evidence in November. Th e
vaccines would fi rst need to be approved
or authorized for emergency use by U.S.
regulators.
Drugmakers have already started
manufacturing supplies of their vaccine
candidates to be ready as soon as they
get the go ahead. Th e U.S. Department
of Defense and the CDC plan to start
distribution of vaccines within 24 hours
of regulatory authorization.
Several drugmakers including Pfi zer,
AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and
Novavax Inc. have all said they expect to
produce at least 1 billion doses of their
vaccines next year if they get regulatory
authorization.
Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmithKline Plc
are also working on developing a vaccine
they say could be authorized next year.
/WWW.QNS.COM
