COVID-19 vaccine delivery to begin in January, says U.S. official
The HinduA Trump administration official leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic says the U.S. can expect delivery of a vaccine starting in January 2021, despite statements from the President that inoculations could begin this month. Watch | Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine shows positive results Dr. Robert Kadlec said in an email Friday that the administration “is accelerating production of safe and effective vaccines. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Thursday that there could be 100 million vaccine doses available by the end of the year “pending FDA authorizations.” And Dr. Moncef Slaoui, who is leading the government’s vaccine effort, told Marketwatch on Friday that researchers could know “by late October, or November, or in December” whether one of the vaccines in development is effective, but that it would then take weeks to get emergency authorization to administer it. “Thus, we will continue to fly by the seat of our pants with our fingers crossed for the foreseeable future.” Michael Lu, dean of University of California, Berkeley’s school of public health, said one important part of the solution lies in a bipartisan bill fast tracked in the Senate that would rebuild the Strategic National Stockpile and strengthen U.S. manufacturing of medical masks, gowns and other protective gear.