US doctors could administer the first authorised coronavirus vaccine today (14) after millions of doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech inoculation were shipped to hospitals over the weekend.
Super-cooled trucks and aeroplanes crossed the country on Sunday carrying the first doses to all 50 states following the emergency authorization granted by the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday night.
Stephen Hahn, head of the FDA, said on Sunday he hoped the first doses would be administered the following day as the US struggled to reduce the accelerating spread of the disease. Dr Hahn told news channel CNN: “We have seen reports that hospitals are ready and waiting to vaccinate their healthcare workers. It would be my greatest hope and desire that this occurs tomorrow.”
Friday’s decision to approve the vaccine on an emergency basis made the country the sixth to give it the go-ahead, after trials showed it to be more than 90 per cent effective on average.
US officials are planning to boost production quickly over the next few weeks, with healthcare workers, and staff and residents in long-term care homes first in line.
