Washington) Donald Trump’s government is actively preparing the large-scale distribution of a possible coronavirus vaccine by 1is November, just before the presidential election, demonstrating the frenzied race undertaken by the most affected country in the world to defeat the epidemic.
The health authorities “urgently ask” that the federated states do what is necessary so that the distribution centers of a future vaccine can be “fully operational by 1is November 2020, ”wrote the director of the American Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), Robert Redfield, in a letter sent to governors last week and consulted by AFP.
The boss of the CDC mentions in particular the lifting of administrative restrictions, or the issuance of permits and licenses.
This is a new indication that the vaccine race is on full speed in the country, which has spent billions of dollars developing and producing a cure for the coronavirus.
Health authorities “are rapidly preparing for the implementation of a large-scale distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the fall of 2020,” Mr. Redfield said in his letter.
President Donald Trump, candidate for reelection on November 3, said last week that the United States will have a vaccine “this year”.
The Republican, whose economic record has been considerably tarnished by the pandemic, is betting everything on the rapid discovery of a vaccine.
“Huge task”
If several vaccines are currently in clinical trials, it is not certain that one of them will be effective and safe, but the authorities are already preparing a possible distribution in order to save precious time.
Several documents aimed at guiding States in preparing for this “immense task”, in Mr. Redfield’s words, were sent to them along with his letter.
One of these documents develops three scenarios depending on the progress of a “vaccine A” and a “vaccine B”. These appear to correspond to vaccines developed by the American laboratory Pfizer and the American biotech Moderna, according to the New York Times.
The United States has pre-ordered millions of doses from these two companies, but also from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, and Sanofi, in order to ensure prompt deliveries from the successful candidate.
“The scenarios described below should be used by states and local jurisdictions to develop an operational plan for early vaccination against COVID-19, while vaccine supplies will be limited,” the document explains.
In the first scenario, according to which vaccine A demonstrates its effectiveness, it is estimated that around two million doses would be available at the end of October, then 10 to 20 million at the end of November (in the second scenario, vaccine B is effective, in the third, both vaccines are).
The document details the conditions necessary for their dispatch and storage, as well as the populations to be vaccinated as a priority, namely in particular the nursing staff and the so-called essential workers.
Further evidence that the United States is doing everything to make access to a vaccine as quickly as possible: the head of the United States Medicines Agency (FDA), Stephen Hahn, did not rule out the hypothesis of the authorization vaccine via an emergency procedure, even before the end of clinical trials.
These trials consist of administering the experimental vaccines to thousands of people and comparing the results to the same proportion of participants who have received placebos.
In his interview published Sunday by the Financial TimesMr. Hahn defended himself from being pressured by President Trump to authorize a vaccine before the presidential election.
