Adam Geller And Terry Spencer
Nurse Christine Philips, left, administers the Pfizer vaccine to Vera Leip, 88, a resident of John Knox Village, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, in Pompano Beach, Fla. Nursing home residents and health care workers in Florida began receiving the Pfizer vaccine this week. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier) December 16, 2020 - 6:50 PM
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. - The first COVID-19 vaccinations are underway at U.S. nursing homes, where the virus has killed more than 110,000 people, even as the nation struggles to contain a surge so alarming it has spurred California to dispense thousands of body bags and line up refrigerated morgue trucks.
Published December 17, 2020 10:57pm WASHINGTON US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Thursday said nearly 6 million doses of Moderna s experimental COVID-19 vaccine were poised to ship nationwide as soon as it secures Food and Drug Administration approval. Azar, in an interview on CNBC, said federal health officials had allotted 5.9 million doses to send to the nation s governors, who are managing each state s distribution. We re ready to start shipping this weekend to them for rollout Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of next week. We re ready to go, he said. FDA s advisers last week backed a separate COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE that the FDA then approved for emergency use. That vaccine shipped out last weekend with the first doses going to US healthcare workers on Monday.
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A nurse holds a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Guy s Hospital in London, December 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool)
Hospitals across the US have made a surprise discovery in recent days that many are hailing as a Hanukkah miracle. Some vials containing the precious Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contained more than the expected five doses, sometimes enough for seven people.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday confirmed that some of the vials may be overfilled and advised health professionals to use every full dose possible “given the public health emergency.”
The agency said it is communicating with Pfizer about the issue, but advised health officials not to pool doses from multiple vials.