US health official: 'Congress needs to provide USD 6 bn to distribute COVID-19 vaccines'

A highly decorated US health official was reported to have spoken to international media that Congress should provide around USD 6 billion in a bid to help the country in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. As per the Washington Post report, this is expected to be the largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign ever undertaken in the world. The Trump administration has come up with a detailed layout on Wednesday, September 16, and claimed that they are planning to speed up doses of coronavirus vaccine into millions of Americans. 

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Distribution of vaccine

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield has said that his agency does not have enough funds for the smooth distribution of the vaccine which will take place in a phase-wise manner. According to the Washington Post report, the vaccine requires a temperature of minus-70 Celsius for its maintenance. The report added that special freezers and dry ice systems will be necessary to make sure the people get the correct doses in the right time. In addition, the officials explained the two types of vaccines being developed - "vaccine A" and "vaccine B" and also described how many doses may be available by the end of October, November and December; storage requirements; and minimum order amounts. 

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News agency ANI quoted, "Vaccine A, which is the product being developed by Pfizer, needs to be stored at minus-70 degrees Celsius (minus-94 Fahrenheit) and requires two doses, 21 days apart. About 2 million doses would be available by the end of October; 10 million to 20 million by the end of November; and 20 million to 30 million by the end of December. The minimum order is about 1,000 doses". 

"Vaccine B, if approved, can be stored at minus-20 degrees Celsius (minus-4 Fahrenheit) and requires two doses, 28 days apart. A total of about 26 million doses of vaccine B would be available by the end of the year, most of them in December. The details match the product being developed by Moderna". 

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has asked the state public health officials, to prepare and distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine to high-risk groups as soon as October, documents published by the agency showed. Previously, American health officials had asserted that a vaccine for coronavirus might be approved without even completing full trials leaving the WHO concerned.

(with inputs from agencies)

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