The FDA has addressed ‘vaccine hesitancy’ concerns as a CDC panel unanimously recommended Pfizer jab for widespread use, and the US Army general in charge of distribution declared ‘the beginning of the end’ of Covid-19 pandemic.
The head of the US Food and Drug Administration, Stephen Hahn, said that his agency is “very concerned about vaccine hesitancy” and thus always tried to be as “open and transparent” as possible about the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine testing and emergency approval process.
We are also aware that some feel that the speed with which this development and regulatory process took place might give them concerns about the vaccine.
President Trump announced the FDA approval of Pfizer vaccine for emergency use on Friday night, amid allegations that his administration was twisting the agency’s arms to expedite the process.
The head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Peter Marks, tried to reassure Americans at a Saturday press conference that the fast-track was warranted and did not result in any safety sacrifices.
Our goal here is to make sure that people know that we are doing our jobs to make sure that we look out for possible adverse events, that they feel comfortable rolling up their sleeve and taking the vaccine.
Despite the spike in reported hospitalizations and total Covid-19-attributed deaths nearing 300,000 across the US, large swathes of Americans, concerned about possible long-term health risks, remain reluctant to receive any of the first generation coronavirus inoculations, recent polling showed. While 47 percent of respondents said they planned to get the shot, some 53 percent of those surveyed were either not sure whether they would get vaccinated, or adamant that they would not.
The first batch of some 2.9 million shots this month will be aimed largely at frontline health care personnel and residents of nursing homes and care facilities. An FDA fact sheet noted that patients with severe allergies to vaccines should avoid the jab for now, as well as those with a history of anaphylaxis.
Gen. Gustave Perna calls beginning of vaccine distribution “D-Day,” invoking WWII.”D-Day, in military, designates ‘the day the mission begins.’ … D-Day was the beginning of the end and that’s where we are today.” https://t.co/dWfohJq3CVpic.twitter.com/CZJ2DKKtPb
The US Army General in charge of the enormous and complex logistics operation to distribute millions of vaccine doses – that must to be stored at -70 Celsius until administering – meanwhile warned of a tough road ahead. But while medical experts tried to reassure Americans, Gen. Gustave Perna seems to have stoked some unease among vaccination skeptics concerned about the military involvement in the Operation Warp Speed, as he kept referring to the rollout as a “D-Day” and “the beginning of the end.”
D-Day was the beginning of the end, and that is where we are today.
Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo, who previously vowed to ‘resist’ the Trump administration’s coronavirus vaccine distribution plan, announced that New York state officials have given the jab the green light and praised the rollout, also in military terms, saying: “The vaccine, that is the weapon that ends the war.”
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