The US’ first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states on Monday morning, officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
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US authorisation comes weeks after Britain became the first country in the world to begin mass rollout of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
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The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech, which was shown to be 95% effective in preventing the infection in a late-stage trial has been granted an emergency use authorisation by the US regulators.
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Initially, about 3 million doses were expected to be shipped nationwide. It was unclear exactly who would receive the first shots, though health care workers and nursing home residents were the priority.
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Trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies UPS and FedEx begin delivering Pfizer's vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centres across the states. An additional 425 sites will get shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday.
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The announcement Saturday kicks off a massive logistical operation involving the federal and state governments, private companies and health care workers to quickly distribute limited vaccine supplies throughout the U.S. It offers hope in a country grappling with surging COVID-19 infections and deaths, which are overwhelming hospitals and raising fears that things will only get worse as people gather over the holidays.
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The US is the sixth country -- after the UK, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico -- to clear the vaccine. Other authorizations, including by the European Union, are expected within weeks.
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According to the latest update by the Johns Hopkins University, as many as 15,998,522 in the US have tested positive for coronavirus and 296,977 deaths have been reported so far.
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