CDC Panel to Meet to Vote on Priority for COVID-19 Vaccine

A nurse prepares a blinded study experimental vaccine for the CCP virus, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna, in Binghamton, N.Y., on July 27, 2020. Hans Pennink/AP Photo

A panel of medical experts will meet on Dec. 1 to decide how to distribute the first COVID-19 vaccine doses.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will discuss how to allocate the initial tranche and how to monitor the safety of the vaccine in the meeting, which will take place in Atlanta and be broadcast online.

After the discussion and a brief public comment period, doctors will vote on allocation of the first vaccine doses.

The same committee met this week and was told to warn people about side effects of COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Health experts say the first doses should go to health care workers, who treat COVID-19 patients, and the elderly, who are most at risk of experiencing severe cases of the disease.

Two vaccine candidates are ahead of the others in development. New York-based Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech last week asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency approval for their candidate, after a phase 3 trial showed positive results.

Massachusetts-based Moderna, which is working with the National Institutes of Health, is poised to make a similar request soon.

An FDA official told The Epoch Times this month that the agency reviews emergency use authorization requests as quickly as possible.

A patient receiving Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., on May 4, 2020. Courtesy of University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP

The agency’s vaccine advisory committee met last month to discuss the development, authorization, and licensing of vaccines to prevent COVID-19. The same committee plans to meet on Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer’s emergency request.

Doses will be distributed within 24 hours of FDA approval, Health Secretary Alex Azar said this week.

President Donald Trump said during a Thanksgiving teleconference with members of the military that distribution of a vaccine could start by Dec. 4. The military is involved in the distribution.

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for Operation Warp Speed, the government effort to speed development of vaccines, said recently that vaccinations could begin by mid-December.

Operation Warp Speed enabled production of vaccine candidates even as they were going through clinical trials, with the aim of distributing vaccines as soon as possible following authorization in the event they proved effective and safe in the trials.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.