How will COVID-19 vaccines be rolled out?
If any of the promising COVID-19 vaccines are approved in the coming weeks - including from Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca - the companies have said distribution could begin almost immediately.
But who gets the vaccine first in the United States - and when?
Upon authorization from the FDA - the Defense Department and the CDC will manage distribution in the United States, likely starting in mid-December with an initial release of 6.4 million doses nationwide.
The CDC has said first in line will be about 21 million healthcare workers and 3 million residents in long-term care facilities.
Essential workers, who do crucial work in jobs that cannot be done from home, are the likely next group. This includes firefighters, police, school employees, transportation workers, food and agriculture workers.
Then, adults with high-risk medical conditions and those over the age of 65.
It’s an enormous task, made even more difficult because many of these vaccines require extremely cool temperatures for shipping and storage.
The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday announced it will play a role. It has ultra-cold freezer units that can store between 100 and 200 thousand doses.
Dr. Jeff Smith is the executive vice president of the medical center:
"The health department will allocate a specific amount of vaccine, which will be shipped directly to us. We will store that, take it out of the storage containers, which contain dry ice, and put them directly into our freezers, which are in a secure location and also are monitored remotely for to make sure that they stay at the proper temperature, monitored and alarmed. Then the health department will tell us who should be receiving the vaccine first and what the priorities are, either among our own health care workers or health care workers from other health care systems, our first responders.”
While the priority groups have been set - U.S. health officials have said vaccines will likely be available to most Americans in pharmacies, clinics and doctors’ offices starting in April.
