'Important milestone': One million Americans vaccinated against coronavirus in 10 days

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took to its official Twitter handle as it announced that more than 1 million people have been vaccinated in the United States. Terming it as an ‘important milestone’, CDC said that with cases increasing, this news comes at a very critical time. The CDC director, Robert Redfield also took to his Twitter handle as he said that the government will continue to work closely with state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments and the federal partners to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus. 

1 million people vaccinated 

“The U.S. has passed an early but important milestone in bringing the #COVID19 pandemic to an end. More than 1 million people received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the past 10 days. With #COVID19 cases surging nationwide, this comes at a critical time”, read the tweet by the CDC. According to a report by the department, it is providing recommendations to the federal government on who to give the vaccine first. These recommendations are given with the objective of decreasing death and serious disease as much as possible, preserving the functioning of society and reducing the extra burden COVID-19 is having on people already facing disparities. However, the first doses were mostly given to healthcare personnel and long-term care facility residents. This will be Phase 1a.

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Phase 1b and 1c includes Frontline essential workers, people aged 75 years and older, people aged 65—74 years and lastly people aged 16—64 years with underlying medical conditions. The ultimate goal of the CDC is to make sure that everyone gets a dose of the vaccine against COVID-19. The report said that when supply increases but remains limited, the AICP will be expanding the groups recommended for vaccination.

Read: COVID-19: Pfizer Nears Deal With Trump Admin, Will Ship 100 Mn Additional Vaccine Doses

Also, on December 22, the Trump administration struck a deal with Pfizer for an additional 100 million doses and more purchases to be made in 2021 under Operation Warp Speed (OWS), bringing the current total purchase to 200 million vials. The additional dosages will be delivered to the US by the second quarter of July 31, 2021, and more supplies to be procured by the third and fourth quarters to vaccinate more Americans, according to the deal still in the making. The Trump administration plans to invoke the Defense Production Act to procure raw materials in order to start the production of the additional vaccine supplies at its local manufacturing facilities, sources familiar with the development informed New York Times. According to Pfizer’s official release, the US government has agreed to pay $1.95 billion in order to procure a vaccine to inoculate another 100 milling population in the second quarter of 2021.

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(Image Credits: PTI)