With Three Drugmakers In Final Stages Of Testing, US Preparing For Distribution Of Covid-19 Vaccine By 1 November

With three pharma companies carrying final stage trials of the Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, the Trump administration has begun the preparation for the mass distribution of the vaccine.

The US states has been urged by the Trump administration to get ready to distribute a potential Covid-19 vaccine by 1 November - two days ahead of the 2020 US Presidential election, reports Times of India.

According to the report, McKesson Corp, a Dallas-based wholesaler, has a deal with the federal government and will be seeking permits to establish distribution centres when a vaccine becomes available.

In a letter to the US states on 27 August, the director of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield urged the states to assist in expediting distribution facilities' applications.

"The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant barrier to the success of this urgent public health program," Redfield was quoted as saying in the letter.

"CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities," he said.

Redfield also urged the states to consider waiving requirements that would "prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by Nov. 1, 2020."

The states have also been provided with documents by the CDC, giving the details of a vaccine rollout plan, adding that they would either be approved as licensed vaccines or under emergency use authorisation.

As per the documents, the recipient may probably require a second "booster" dose, a few weeks after the first dose.

Three pharma companies - AstraZeneca in partnership with the Oxford University; Moderna, collaborating with the US National Institutes of Health; and the Pfizer/BioNTech alliance - have been conducting the Phase 3 clinical trials of their Covid-19 vaccines, involving thousands of volunteers.

The federal government will be procuring and distributing the vaccine and ancillary supplies at no cost to enrolled Covid-19 vaccination providers, according to the documents.

As per the report, the essential service workers, national security officials, seniors and members of vulnerable racial and ethnic groups will be given priority in the Covid-19 vaccination programme.