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Added on the 18/11/2020 19:15:35 - Copyright : Wochit
The covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is one big step closer to the public. A group of outside experts assembled by the FDA largely voted to recommend the vaccine. The vaccine was recommended for emergency use in people ages 16 and older. The over eight-hour advisory committee meeting featured presentations and discussions. However, several members said they were uncomfortable recommending its use to people ages 16-17. The limited data available right now, according to Gizmodo.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo thinks one vaccine could receive FDA emergency authorization. Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine is the one he was alluding to on Thursday. An independent advisory panel will vote on whether to recommend an emergency use authorization. Several top health officials have said they expect the vaccine to get authorized on Thursday. However, at least one FDA official has said the process could take up to a week after the panel's vote.
In less than three months, Israel expects to have immunized all its citizens who are over 16 against the novel coronavirus. Business Insider reports achieving that goal would likely make Israel the world's first to immunize the vast majority of its population. Israel has far outpaced the rest of the world with its vaccination campaign. In fact, it has already administered the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to about one in five of its citizens. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced a deal with Pfizer to secure enough doses to immunize its adult population by the end of March.
The vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus COVID-19 is rolling along--but very, very slowly. While the FDA has approved two vaccines for distribution, experts say it will be many months before all Americans who want a vaccine can receive one. An NBC News analysis says that at the current pace, it'll take nearly a decade to vaccinate enough Americans to bring the pandemic under control. And according to Business Insider, Brown University's Dr. Ashish K. Jha knows why. He says it's because the Trump administration has bucked the responsibility of vaccine distribution to already overwhelmed state health departments.
Dr. Anthony Fauci had previously said it could take up to 90% of the US population to get vaccinated to reach herd immunity against the coronavirus. But on Sunday, he clarified his 'guesstimate' downwards to 70 to 85% of the population. Business Insider reports Fauci admitted on CNN's 'State of the Union' that 'we all have to be honest and humble, nobody really knows for sure.' This month, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized both Moderna and Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. Healthcare professionals and frontline workers across the country have been getting vaccinations since the vaccine rollouts.