The CEO of the federal government’s vaccine initiative Operation Warp Speed said during a news conference held by the US Food and Drug Administration that the first COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed safely.
Gen. Gustave Perna 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. Many of you want to know who will receive the first vaccine. And while I leave that up to the experts at the Health and Human Services organization, I remind you of this: Nearly 100,000 Americans have already rolled up their sleeves and participated in clinical trials across America. They were the true first recipients of the vaccine.” The news conference came after the FDA issued an emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Perna said shipping containers with the vaccine are already being packed at a Pfizer facility and that he expects the vaccine to arrive at 145 sites across the United States on Monday. Another 425 sites are expected to receive the vaccine on Tuesday and the final 66 sites will receive it on Wednesday, completing the initial delivery of Pfizer vaccines. The Pfizer vaccine has met the FDA’s criteria for an emergency use authorization and that “totality of the available data provides clear evidence” that the vaccine “may be effective in preventing COVID-19.”
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