COVID-19 vaccines will be arriving soon, but the amount would initially be insufficient for everyone as there are more than 330 million people in the United States.
Pfizer, whose vaccine is scheduled to receive Food and Drug Administration authorization in the coming weeks, stated it expects to manufacture enough to vaccinate an estimated 12.5 million Americans by the end of 2020, which is just 3.7 percent of the U.S. population.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is in talks on how to best allocate and prioritize novel coronavirus vaccines upon their arrival.
To diminish fatalities fast when there are very limited vaccine doses accessible, vaccinating older, more susceptible people is expected to be the best choice even if it is relatively lacking at protecting them from the coronavirus. The elderly are more vulnerable to dying from the respiratory illness, reported The Conversation.
However, as more vaccines are manufactured, the goal would be to return to normality, to mix freely without being exposed to the virus. If the vaccines are not effective in older adults, there would be a need for more people to be administered with the vaccine, which includes children. One probable strategy is to prioritize younger people.
A vaccine that could alleviate nine out of 10 people from testing positive for COVID-19 is slated to be set forth for emergency approval.
According to creators Pfizer and BioNTech, the vaccine had been tested on 43,500 people with no safety concerns underscored, reported BBC.
Meanwhile, in Indiana, frontline healthcare workers will receive the first crack of vaccines. Their "Group 1-A" would involve doctors, nurses, and hospital employees and volunteers. Nursing home workers and home healthcare would be qualified as well.
Also Read: U.S. Sets a New Record, Over 190,000 COVID-19 Cases Reported in One Day
The plan would also extend to "Group 1-B" or individuals whose underlying diseases or conditions make them more susceptible to die from contracting COVID-19. The illnesses include heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Pregnant women are also on the list.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released a draft plan on Tuesday for disseminating a vaccine against COVID-19 in the United States. Its draft plan prioritizes U.S. citizens based on their risk of infection with healthcare workers prioritized as the receiving end, reported Advisory Board.
The current frontrunner candidates include an mRNA vaccine from Moderna, a Chinese vaccine from CanSigo Biologics, a candidate vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and an mRNA-based vaccine from BioNTech and Pfizer.
While a vaccine candidate can be approved this 2020, it remains to be seen whether the vaccine will grant temporary or long-term immunity or how many doses would be needed. Doubling the number of jabs can complicate global immunization efforts.
According to a preliminary plan developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthcare workers are prioritized first, then people with underlying illnesses and the elderly. The CDC has not yet decided whether Blacks and Latinos must be prioritized as these groups are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Related Article: Trump Announces 20M Americans to Receive Vaccine in December in First Public Address After Election
