President Trump said Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration is “just days away” from approving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in the U.S. and the government would immediately begin mass distribution.
What seemed unthinkable when the pandemic began is now in sight: The U.S. on the verge of a vaccine.
FDA scientists on Tuesday said for the first time that Pfizer’s vaccine offers Americans strong protection and is up to 95% effective after two doses. The report also found that protection begins within 10 days of the first dose, that it’s effective no matter one’s race age or weight, and that there are no serious side effects beyond fever, fatigue and muscle aches — most of which disappear within two days.
“We will be able to vaccinate about 20 million people this month and another 20-25 million in January,” said Admiral Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Hospitals around the country are now on the front lines of administering the vaccine.
“We’re all very excited,” said Dr. Richard Freeman. “It’s been a long eight months. And this happened incredibly fast. My biggest worry is that we don’t lose any vaccine to storage issues. We want to get as much of that vaccine into people as possible.”
Officials are also dealing with complacency.
“I know everybody is excited and we’d love to take our masks off by Valentine’s Day, but that’s just not going to happen,” said Dr. Julie Williams Van Dijk, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Some continue to take their masks off, like at a Christmas pageant in Missouri and a concert in Ohio.
Americans also must be willing to take the vaccine. While a Pew Research survey now shows confidence at 60%, this week Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS News the number needs to be higher. “If we could get 75, 85% of the people in the United States vaccinated, we could crush this outbreak,” Fauci said.
The White House Coronavirus Task Force on Tuesday said the vaccine will not reduce the speed of the virus’ spread, hospitalizations or deaths until the 100 million Americans with underlying conditions are fully vaccinated. That’s not expected to happen until late spring.
More than 280,000 Americans have died from the virus, which has infected over 15 million people across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.