WASHINGTON: The United States prepared to launch a coronavirus vaccine in a few days, as the daily death toll in the country reached 3,253 for the first time on Wednesday, surpassing the number of lives lost from the September 11 attacks. 2001.
The death toll in the United States since the start of the pandemic has reached 2.89,740, with a record 1.06,219 people hospitalized. Potentially helping curb the outbreak, a vaccine could begin reaching healthcare workers, first responders and nursing home residents as early as Sunday, although it is most likely early next week, according to officials from the Trump administration.
The FDA’s vaccine advisory panel, made up of independent scientific, medical, and infectious disease statisticians experts, as well as industry and consumer representatives, will meet all day Thursday to discuss whether the agency should authorize the Covid- vaccine. 19 from Pfizer. Although the FDA does not have to follow the advice of the panel, it generally does. If experts vote in favor of the vaccine, it will clear the way for the FDA to authorize it in a few days.
The panel functions as a court of science. During the session, which lasted all day, it was expected to discuss and disaggregate the data, in public, on whether the vaccine is safe and effective enough to be approved for emergency use. With unprecedented interest in the normally obscure panel, the FDA broadcast the meeting via YouTube and thousands of people logged on. The panel members are likely to discuss how a broad authorization of the vaccine (the vote is whether it should be allowed in adults 16 years of age and older) could affect the clinical trial, which will continue. Some experts have argued that ethically, trial volunteers who received a placebo trial should be offered the actual vaccine once it is licensed, but others are concerned that this could cloud trial results in the long term.
Experts could also raise concerns about possible allergic reactions after two healthcare workers in Britain, who had a history of severe allergies, developed such reactions after receiving the Pfizer injection.
FDA Director Steven Hahn, before the meeting, said the agency was carefully reviewing all data on Pfizer’s vaccine, including possible allergic reactions in the wake of developments in the UK. FDA consent for Pfizer could come as early as Friday or Saturday, followed by the first American injections on Sunday or Monday, said Moncef Slaoui, a senior adviser at Operation Warp. A dose of Moderna is a week late. However, widespread vaccinations could take months.
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