US Ready for Mass Vaccinations as World Death Toll Crosses 1.6 Mn

Approximately three million people in the first wave of the vaccines would be administered the shots from Mon to Wed

The US-based pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is now ready for human administration. The vaccine had left the Michigan factory on Sunday, 13 December, reported AFP. The first doses of the vaccine will be delivered to every state in the US on Monday, 14 December, and will be administered to millions of Americans.

Approximately three million people will be administered the shots from Monday to Wednesday in the first wave of shipments. The US is seeking to inoculate 20 million people this month alone, and hundreds of sites, including hospitals and other distribution centres, will receive the vaccines, reported AFP.

Health Workers to Be Prioritised for the Vaccine

General Gus Perna, who is overseeing the massive logistical operation as part of the government's ‘Operation Warp Speed’ said, "I am absolutely 100 percent confident that we are going to distribute safely, this precious commodity, this vaccine, needed to defeat the enemy Covid", according to AFP.

He added that ‘hundreds of sites, including hospitals and other distribution centres, would receive the vaccines.

The doses will be shipped out in boxes containing dry ice that are capable of staying at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), which is the pre-requisite temperate to preserve the drug, reported AFP. Vials are being loaded up onto UPS and FedEx trucks to be shipped to hospitals in the country, reported AFP.

As the global death rate for the pandemic passed 1.6 million, infections in the US were soaring, with 1.1 million new cases confirmed in the past five days and the death toll nearing 300,000. The US on Saturday reported its 16 millionth COVID-19 case, reported USA Today.

“Healthcare workers and nursing home residents are first in line. Patients and caregivers will receive fact sheets describing the risks and benefits”, said Dr Nancy Messonnier, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, according to USA Today.

(With inputs from AFP and USA Today)