HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Federal health officials say we could start seeing vaccine distributions in a matter of days. Leaders with 'Operation Warp Speed' say that if all goes according to plan, states would receive the first shipment of the vaccines for 20 million Americans this month.
"Should we receive an allocation in December, which we have been told that we will, will be a little over forty thousand doses," says Alabama Department of Public Health Assistant State Officer, Dr. Karen Landers.
Landers says this is the number of doses once the FDA approves the vaccines. Landers says Pfizer is expected to be the vaccine we receive first. The people to receive the vaccine include health care providers and first responders.
"The FDA's now scheduled a meeting with its advisory committee to review the Moderna vaccine on December 17th, following their meeting on the Pfizer vaccine on December the 10th," says U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services, Alex Azar, II.
Operation Warp Speed Chief Operating Officer General Gustave F. Perna says the states should have their plans ready by the end of this week to receive the Pfizer vaccine, and by the 11th to receive the Moderna vaccine.
"Half of the allocation will be sent out, and then 21 days later for Pfizer, and 28 days for Moderna we send out the second half of allocations," says Perna.
Another vaccine, AstraZeneca is in the works. Regardless of the brand of vaccines Alabama will receive; Landers says the health department will rely on clinic providers and pharmacies for help.
'That is recruiting providers into our imprint system and our system to be able to enroll, order, to store and to administer vaccine," says Landers.
"It would be very important by the way, for every American who get the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine to have their first vaccine dose, then to come back three or four weeks later to get their second vaccine," says Operation Warp Speed Chief Scientific Advisor, Dr. Moncef Slaoui.
Landers says the health department has a system set up to notify individuals who received the first dose.
"Part of that would be the recall in our imprint system. Which is an electronic registry that we actually have that in place for a number of years," says Landers.