Vaccine Distribution

Help on the Way

Vaccine distribution is almost here. The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee will approve Pfizer’s emergency use authorization (EUA) request for its COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 10. The federal government will send 6.4 million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to front-line health-care workers. Distribution may start within 24 hours of regulatory clearance.Gen. Gustave Perna oversees logistics for Operation Warp Speed. He will allocate the doses according to population.

“We wanted to keep this simple,” Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services said at a media briefing Tuesday, “We thought it would be the fairest approach, and the most consistent.”

Health-care workers should be the top priority group, officials said. However, some health experts are warning about the vaccine’s side effects. Members of an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned about the potential side effects of getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

“As a practicing physician, I have got to be sure my patients will come back for the second dose. We really have got to make patients aware that this is not going to be a walk in the park,” said Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, a physician representing the American Medical Association.

Masks Protect

We all know masks, hand-washing, and maintaining a safe distance are best practices. New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also indicates it protects the wearer of the mask as well.
HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir, M.D. repeatedly emphasizes the need for infection control measures, such as universal mask wearing, adequate testing and good hygiene, despite potential vaccines being on the horizon.

“Wearing one of these masks when you’re outside is not a partisan issue,” Biden said. “It is a matter of protecting other people.”