There has been talk of a COVID-19 vaccine coming soon for months, but news now looks more promising than ever before. Federal government officials are saying that a vaccine could be released before Christmas. In preparation for this, states are getting ready to begin vaccinating people in December.
However, just because a vaccine could be coming out does not mean that everyone can get it right away. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee forImmunization Practices will make the decision as to who can get the vaccine first, which will most likely be health care workers, essential workers, and high risk adults. Young adults and children will be in phase three of receiving the vaccine, which might not be until June or even later (cnn.com). Stephen Hahn, an FDA Commissioner, and Peter Marks, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, state that, “We are committed to expediting the development of the COVID-19 vaccines, but not at the expense of sound science and decision making. We will not jeopardize the public’s trust in our science-based, independent review of these or any vaccines. There’s too much at stake” (fda.gov). Although the quick release of the vaccine is extremely important, safety is the FDA’s first priority.
Pfizer is one of the leading companies for immunization. Their vaccine works by using a piece of genetic material, which is considered safe and effective. The vaccine of other companies such as AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson’s uses a replicant deficient virus instead, the safety of which does not have a lot of data yet; the release of their vaccines are predicted to be later (cnn.com). The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet on December 10th to discuss Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer vaccine, and on December 17th to discuss EUA of the AstraZeneca vaccine (fda.org). We will have more information after the meetings take place.
After much anticipation I am sure we all are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, but hopefully with a little more patience we will receive good news soon.
