The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday posted on its website, a hopeful prediction that by the end of the year 2020 a covid19 vaccine may be available. The vaccines could be in limited supply initially but the supply will eventually increase in the days and weeks after it’s first released. The agency said that the objective is that everyone gets the vaccine easily once large quantities of it are available.
The CDC has no part in the development of the covid19 vaccine but the agency will help in distributing them. The National Institutes of Health is playing a role in developing the vaccines while the emergency use authorization (E.U.A) will be given by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The CDC said that the plan is that there are thousands of providers for the vaccine so that nobody has to travel over long distances to get vaccinated.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that by November or December the researchers will have a very clear idea that whether a safe candidate has been found in the vaccine trials. Moreover, when and if a safe candidate is found, only very limited doses will be available initially.
The new page on the CDC website about plans regarding the covid19 vaccine notes that if the supply of the vaccine is limited, some groups will be preferred in distributing the vaccine. The website further says that the federal government has planned to give the vaccines at a very low-cost or for free, however, the providers of the vaccine will be capable of charging administration fees for administrating or giving the shot of vaccine to someone. Most insurance companies whether public or private will make sure that the person who is getting vaccinated bares no cost by covering the fees, says CDC.
Further, the CDC has stated that it will not recommend the covid19 vaccines initially for children when and if they are available. The statement further said that most of the vaccine trials are incorporating only volunteers other than pregnant ladies and children. These trials will move towards pregnant women and children but it’s not clear when there will be enough data for the researchers to recommend these groups for vaccine trials. Moreover, there is a possibility that the vaccines will be allowed for only a limited distribution before trials testing pregnant women and children are done.
Amanda Cohn, executive secretary for the advisory committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), said that the first doses of the covid19 vaccine will likely be given to healthcare workers at large hospitals and then as the vaccine is available in large quantities the focus will shift towards ensuring wide access of the vaccine. As of now, the health departments are employing people to administer vaccines and to expand its broad excess to the public. As there are many different vaccines being developed and many of them have different administration protocols and temperature requirements, the CDC has planned to develop training for the administering of vaccines.