US To Commence COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution November 1

The United States says it would commence a large scale distribution of COVID-19 vaccines by November 1.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) informed state public health officials to prepare to distribute the vaccines to high-risk groups.

The timing of the release of any vaccine has taken on political importance as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks re-election in November, after putting substantial federal resources into vaccine development.

“For the purpose of initial planning, CDC provided states with certain planning assumptions as they work on state-specific plans for vaccine distribution, including possibly having limited quantities of vaccines in October and November,” a CDC spokeswoman told Reuters.

The New York Times had earlier reported that the CDC had contacted officials in all 50 states and five large cities with the documents.

The country’s top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci earlier on Wednesday said on MSNBC that based on the patient enrollment rate in COVID-19 vaccine trials underway, there could be enough clinical data to know by November or December that one of the vaccines is safe and effective.

The documents here put online by the New York Times showed that the CDC is preparing for one or two vaccines for COVID -19 to be available in limited doses as soon as late October.