Coronavirus Vaccine Clears Key Final Hurdle, Mass Inoculation Program Set to Begin Monday

A CENTERS FOR DISEASE Control and Prevention advisory group on Saturday delivered a key endorsement of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, setting the stage for a mass national inoculation program that federal officials expect to start with the vaccine's arrival in states on Monday.

The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 11-0 with three people abstaining to recommend the vaccine for people aged 16 and older. The recommendation should be implemented in conjunction with an earlier suggestion from the committee to prioritize health care workers and nursing homes for the first vaccines.

The recommendation, which is expected to gain approval from CDC Director Robert Redfield, came one day after the Food and Drug Administration granted the vaccine an emergency use authorization. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn reportedly faced pressure from the White House to issue the decision by the end of the day.

Vaccines are currently being packaged and will start arriving in states on Monday, according to Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed.

"We expect 145 sites across all the states to receive vaccine on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday and the final 66 sites on Wednesday, which will complete the initial delivery of the Pfizer orders for vaccine," Perna said Saturday during a press conference.

Previously, officials said that shipments would go out within 24 hours of the emergency use authorization, which was issued Friday evening. It is unclear why the timeline was pushed back.

Experts warn that initial doses will be limited and that their effect on the pandemic won't be immediately seen.

In a presentation to the committee, the CDC's Dr. Sarah Mbaeyi left open the option for immunocompromised people and pregnant and lactating women to get the vaccine but suggested that anyone who has had a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine should not get the shot at this time, following incidents involving two National Health Services employees who received the vaccine in the U.K and had a history of "significant allergic reactions."

Government officials have said they expect to have enough vaccines to inject 20 million people this month and 100 million – nearly a third of the U.S. population – by the end of February. Officials have said that everyone who wants a vaccine could get one by June.

The U.S. on Friday broke its daily death toll record, topping 3,300 fatalities. The top five highest daily death tolls all happened this month, according to Johns Hopkins University.

U.S. officials report more than 15.8 million cases of the virus with a death toll approaching 300,000.