Vaccinations against Covid-19 can now begin in the United States.US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr Robert Redfield gave the final nod Sunday to the first coronavirus vaccine for the United States, clearing the way for shots to start.

Redfield accepted the recommendation of the agency's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine may be given to people 16 and older.The first shots are expected to begin on Monday."This official CDC recommendation follows Friday's FDA decision to authorize the emergency use of Pfizer's vaccine. As COVID-19 cases continue to surge throughout the U.S., CDC's recommendation comes at a critical time," Redfield said in a statement.

"Initial COVID-19 vaccination is set to start as early as Monday, and this is the next step in our efforts to protect Americans, reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and help restore some normalcy to our lives and our country."
The first freight trucks carrying approximately 184,275 vials of the vaccine departed Pfizer's facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday.

"They will begin moving vaccine from the Pfizer manufacturing facility to the UPS and FedEx hubs, and then it will go out to the 636 locations nationwide, which were identified by the states and territories," Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, told a news conference Saturday.

"We expect 145 sites across all the states to receive the vaccine on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday, and the final 66 sites on Wednesday, which will complete the initial delivery of the Pfizer orders for vaccine," Perna added.
The shipments follow days of meetings and decisions by regulatory and public health officials.

The US Food and Drug Administration gave Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine emergency use authorization on Friday, following a recommendation made Thursday by the agency's vaccine advisers.

"Science and data-guided the FDA's decision," FDA Commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn told a Saturday morning news conference.

"We believe that that transparency, as well as the rigorous scientific review that we've done, goes a long way to providing confidence and trust in the American people and FDA and this vaccine."

Following FDA's decision, CDC's vaccine advisers voted on Saturday to recommend that CDC approve the vaccine for use in the United States and add it to the vaccine schedule.

The CDC's OK on Sunday made those recommendations official.

Story Credit: CNN Health

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/13/health/covid-19-vaccines-can-begin-cdc-recommendation/index.html