The United Kingdom announced on December 2nd that they will be the first country to approve the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the fight against the pandemic. This approval was made by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency of the U.K. which is their version of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Pfizer will meet with the U.S. FDA on December 10th in an effort to gain approval for their vaccine distribution in the United States. Already, the CDC is determining who will get the vaccine first when an approved vaccine begins to be distributed. Healthcare workers and first responders are at the top of the list and then it is still undetermined who might be next.
The hope of a vaccine comes as welcome news to many but is of little comfort to those who have lost loved ones in the recent months. Although Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom reports that the overall deaths to date in Hopkins County are lower this year over last year, a little over 15% of those deaths have been determined to be Covid-19 related.
Only time will tell when the vaccine will be widely available and other drug companies are just weeks behind Pfizer in their drug trials as well. Drugmaker Moderna applied for emergency approval of their vaccine just 10 days after Pfizer, so that could mean they might gain approval before Christmas. Another drug company, AstraZeneca, is next in line as their trials enter the final phase and should be requesting approval soon as well. The vaccines currently in line for approval are two-shot vaccines which individuals must wait up to a month between doses. All vaccines are reported to be administered at no cost regardless of insurance coverage.
Some have a “wait and see” attitude toward any vaccine, while others are willing to be first in line for the first vaccine approved. KSST News would like to hear your thoughts on the vaccine by recording your vote in the following poll.
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