Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus vaccine’s first shipment will begin arriving in US states from Monday, an official of President Donald Trump's administration said.
Shipping companies UPS and FedEx will deliver the vaccine to nearly 150 state locations, said Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, on Saturday.
Perna said the vaccine will arrive on Monday morning so that health workers would be available to receive the shots and then begin giving them.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday issued authorization for emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine of American drugmaker Pfizer in partnership with German company BioNTech, the first vaccine against the disease in the country. The emergency use authorization permits the distribution of vaccines in the country.
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The FDA said the available data provides clear evidence that Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may be effective in preventing the virus. The data also show that the known and potential benefits surpass the known and potential risks, supporting the vaccine's use in millions of people 16 years of age and older, said the FDA.
Perna's announcement comes after the US set yet another record for single-day Covid cases after more than 244,000 people tested positive for the virus. On Saturday, the country reported 244,011 new cases and 3,013 fatalities, which took the overall infection tally and death toll to 16,045,596 and 297,789, respectively.