The immense logistics necessary for the distribution of millions of doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 are ready, assured Tuesday, November 24, American officials, who plan to distribute 6.4 million doses as soon as the green light is given. Drugs Agency (FDA) expected in less than three weeks.
And
"40 million before the end of the year,"
said General Gus Perna, the head of operations for Operation Warp Speed, set up by Donald Trump's administration to support the development and distribution of vaccines, and which includes a strong component of military and logistics experts from the Department of Defense.
These 40 million also include doses of the vaccine developed by Moderna, the green light of which is also expected in December.
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“We can deliver anywhere in America,”
the general said.
Pfizer's first delivery will be around 6.4 million doses, he said.
Pfizer has created special containers to keep the temperature at -70 ° C with dry ice for up to two weeks.
Pfizer's vaccine could be cleared by the FDA shortly after December 10, when the agency's vaccine advisory committee met.
“We believe we will be able to distribute the vaccine to 64 jurisdictions within 24 hours of FDA clearance
,
”
said Health Secretary Alex Azar.
The 64 jurisdictions are the fifty US states and other jurisdictions such as the District of Columbia and territories like Puerto Rico.
The federal government pays for doses manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna.
But it is each of the jurisdictions that will decide where the doses will be delivered: hospitals, doctors' offices, pharmacies ... The states will give the list to the federal government, which will coordinate the delivery in 24 hours, every week, to all the sites listed.
The distribution of the 6.4 million first doses was made in proportion to the population, according to Alex Azar.
The second doses will be dispatched 21 days later for Pfizer, and 28 days later for Moderna.
Read also: Covid-19: how France is preparing for a very large vaccination campaign
Who will have priority?
The federal government will make recommendations: probably residents of retirement homes, medical and first aid workers, and people whose pathologies make them particularly vulnerable to the virus.
The following months will see an increase in production, and the government plans to have enough doses to immunize all Americans who want them in the second quarter.
But it is the state governors who will decide on the list of priority people in their jurisdictions, because the federal recommendations will not be binding.
Vaccinations in retirement homes can in any case begin within 48 hours of the green light from the regulator, via one of the government's partner pharmacies networks, CVS, also noted Alex Azar.
The country, the most affected in the world by the disease in absolute value, again detected 166,960 new cases in 24 hours and deplored 2,081 deaths according to Johns-Hopkins University, whose continuously updated statement refers.
More than 259,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the United States since the start of the pandemic.
