12.11.20 (Wired.com)
| An FDA advisory panel authorizes the first vaccine, the US hits grim milestones, and cases rise worldwide. Here’s what you should know: FDA advisory panel authorizes the US’ first vaccine, and it may soon be on the way On Thursday night, an independent advisory panel reporting to the FDA gave Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine the green light. Hours later, the FDA said it will work to quickly issue the shot an emergency use authorization. Once the EUA is issued, ultracold trucks packed full of vaccines will leave Pfizer’s Kalamazoo plant and head to distribution sites around the US. Vaccines can start being doled out as soon as the CDC officially recommends it, and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has emergency meetings on the books for today and next Monday.Once it’s here, how will the vaccine make it into the arms of Americans in need? On Thursday, FedEx and UPS executives told a Senate transportation subcommittee that they will provide location tracking and priority flights for vaccine shipments, even during the busiest holiday shipping season on record. Meanwhile, Walmart announced that it is preparing more than 5,000 of its pharmacies to administer the vaccine. Each of us can do our part to prepare too, by encouraging skeptical loved ones to get on board with receiving a shot. |