US to distribute 6.4 million doses of Covid vaccine

The United States plans to distribute 6.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the first week after it is cleared for emergency use, which is likely next month, officials said Tuesday.   

A committee of the Food and Drug Administration meets on December 10 to decide whether to green light the medicine, with the US confronted by soaring numbers of deaths and new cases.   

Latest figures on Tuesday showed that the country had recorded a total of 259,600 Covid deaths and 12.5 million cases -- with over 2,000 deaths and 167,000 new cases in just the last 24 hours.   

General Gustave Perna, chief operations officer for the government’s Operation Warp Speed, told reporters some 40 million doses of vaccine would be available by the end of December.   

The Pfizer vaccine has ultra-cold long-term storage requirements of -70 degrees Celsius, and the company has developed special containers with dry ice to keep it cool for up to 15 days.   
WASHINGTON   
 AFP Nov25, 2020 -