CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Americans will soon have access to a second COVID-19 vaccine.
Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, granted emergency authorization Friday to a vaccine made by Moderna, a week after giving similar clearance to one made by Pfizer and its German collaborator, BioNTech.
His is authorizing rather than approving the vaccine, because longer-term research is needed to meet the full standards for approval, which officials don t want to wait for during the public health emergency.
The speedy path to authorization was possible because the agency “cut through regulatory red tape,” Hahn said at a Friday night press conference. We worked quickly based on the urgency of this global pandemic . we have not cut corners.
The U.S. might have more doses of Pfizer-BioNTech s COVID-19 vaccine than it thought.
While each vial is supposed to hold five doses of the first vaccine authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, Politico was first to report on Wednesday that pharmacists have discovered some vials may have extra doses, potentially adding to the country s supply. The amount of vaccine remaining in the multidose vial after removal of 5 doses can vary, depending on the type of needles and syringes used, a Pfizer spokesperson told USA TODAY in a statement. At this time, we cannot provide a recommendation on the use of the remaining amount of vaccine from each vial. Vaccinators need to consult their institution’s policies for the use of multidose vials.
Debelyn Leach, a nurse in the COVID-19 ICU, was on the fence about getting the vaccine at first, but has since changed her mind. My personal reason is I don t want to get COVID. I ve seen what it does to my patients, and I want to avoid that at any cost, Leach said. I will do whatever it takes.
Leach and other workers received their shots at the hospital s vaccination clinic, which will be running six days a week. They hope to vaccinate between 500 and 800 people a day, depending on supply. We are planning to be able to go full speed and administer as many doses as we get. We will shift and pivot if we don t get as many doses, but we hope they come as quickly as they are able to make them for us, said Sarah Kirchofer, nurse director at Brigham and Women s Hospital.
2020/12/17 05:41 A droplet falls from a syringe after a health care worker was injected with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Women & Infants Hospital in Provid. A droplet falls from a syringe after a health care worker was injected with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I., Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Catalina Gonzalez-Marques, an emergency medical physician, receives the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at Brigham and Women s Hospital, Wednesday. Catalina Gonzalez-Marques, an emergency medical physician, receives the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at Brigham and Women s Hospital, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, in Boston. (Brian Snyder/Pool via AP) As COVID-19 vaccinations roll out to more and more people, health authorities are keeping close watch for any unexpected side effects.
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