Washington: The US government has allocated 2 million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to jurisdictions in the United States and almost 6 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine in case it receives the necessary authorization, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
“For next week, we have allocated another approximately two million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine for jurisdictions to use,” Azar said. “And if Moderna’s vaccine is authorized by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] in the coming days, we have allocated nearly 5.9 million doses of that product.”
Earlier this week, healthcare workers have started giving initial shots of the Pfizer vaccine to volunteers after the Food and Drug Administration provided emergency use authorization.
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve a second vaccine developed by Moderna later this week. Both vaccines, which require two doses spaced weeks apart, have proved about 95 percent effective in clinical trials, but with side effects such as headaches, fever and fatigue.
Azar said earlier this week that vaccinations should be available to every American who wants to receive one by the end of June.