Dr. Chad Thury of Avera Health said doctors and researchers cannot overstate the importance of vaccination in fighting COVID-19 in the short term and in reducing the chance of suffering serious consequences later in life.
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.
With the prick of a needle and a round of applause, Dr. Jody Huber took her seat Tuesday after becoming the first Sanford Health employee in Sioux Falls to receive a vaccination for COVID-19.
She was followed by six of her frontline health colleagues as Sanford started the first round of vaccinations during a ceremony at Sanford Imagenetics.
“I’m hoping it will help us get back to normal life,” Huber said following the ceremony. Huber, a pediatrics critical care doctor, said she was looking forward to getting the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in 21 days.
The seven health care providers are among those who will get about 3,100 vaccinations from Sanford’s first allotment of Pfizer vaccine, about a third of the health system’s workforce in Sioux Falls. Sanford began vaccinating its employees about 24 hours after Avera Health started its first round of vaccinations.