HHS Expects 40 Million Doses of Vaccine by December 31: Azar
Published Date: 11/19/2020
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar sounded a hopeful note about a COVID vaccine amid the surging pandemic, saying the federal government expects a total of about 40 million doses of two vaccines to be distributed throughout America by the end of December, pending approval by the FDA. The vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna under the federal government's Operation Warp Speed, would be made available in two doses to front line health care workers and America's most vulnerable first, with production to ramp up after that. "The ultimate goal here is to make getting a COVID-19 vaccine as convenient as getting a flu shot," Azar said. Azar says that under Operation Warp speed, the U.S. government has paid for the vaccines, and people across the country will be able to get vaccinated "with no out-of-pocket costs." During a briefing for reporters, Gen. Gustave Perna, the chief operating officer for Operation Warp Speed, said distribution to a total of 64 jurisdictions throughout the U.S. would begin within 24 hours of the time the FDA gives the vaccines emergency use authorization. "So everybody, every jurisdiction will have access immediately," Perna said. The vaccine can’t come fast enough, as virus cases topped 11 million in the U.S. last weekend - 1 million of them recorded in just the past week - and governors and mayors are ratcheting up restrictions ahead of Thanksgiving. The outbreak has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide, over 246,000 of them in the U.S. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake