US Covid vaccinations to start on Monday
The US public begins obtaining the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from Monday after it had been authorized for emergency use, officials say.
The first three million doses of the vaccine will be shipped "across all claims" this weekend, said Gen Gustave Perna, who's overseeing distribution.
The vaccine offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19 and was deemed safe by the meals and Medicine Administration (FDA).
On Saturday, the US recorded a daily toll of 3,309 Covid-related deaths.
The figure, reported on the Johns Hopkins University website, may be the highest total in a single day anywhere in the world.
Coronavirus deaths have been soaring sharply since November found in the US.
Authorizing the emergency usage of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine upon Friday, the FDA - which will had come under strong pressure by the Trump administration to do so - said the approach was a "significant milestone" in the pandemic.
A mass inoculation get using doses of the same vaccine has recently begun in the UK.
During a news conference on Saturday, Gen Perna - speaking for the US government's vaccination campaign Procedure Warp Speed - stated doses of the vaccine will be packed into shipping containers for transportation "within the next 24 hours".
"Expect 145 sites across the states to get the vaccine on Mon, another 425 sites on Tuesday, and the ultimate 66 sites on Wednesday," he said, adding that following week's distribution would complete the original delivery of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and cover around three million people.
Gen Perna told reporters he was first "100% confident" that the doses "had a need to defeat the enemy Covid" will be transported safely.
He warned, however, that although it had been weekly of progress, "we aren't finished until every American has usage of a vaccine".
The Pfizer vaccine has already received regulatory approval in the UK, Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Like those countries, US health authorities are anticipated to prioritize health workers and care home citizens for the first dosages.
More Americans beyond your highest-priority groups are likely to be able to get the vaccine in January, with standard availability likely by April.
