HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — AstraZeneca is the most widely distributed COVID vaccine in the world, and could be approved in the U.S. We plan to share one fifth of those doses to countries that desperately need it.
Our WZDX News reporter spoke with local doctors on what this means for us in Alabama and nationwide.
"The WHO with their special program, COVAX, their main vaccine distributed is actually AstraZeneca," says Huntsville Hospital Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Ali Hassoun.
The U.S. plans to share about sixty million doses of the vaccine globally. "We need everybody's help with vaccination. So it's not going to be enough to have enough vaccination in the United States or in Europe. It's gonna need to be worldwide," says Hassoun.
Hassoun says it's important that we slow the spread worldwide.
"We need to control the transmission and infection all over the world, not just one place so we can get to the best place we can."
"While doctors say this is good news, and also speaks on the effectiveness of the vaccine we have here in the U.S., Alabama remains below the average percent of eligible people vaccinated.
"I also would remind Alabamians that we're still well below where we want to be in terms of vaccinations. We have counties that are in the thirty-five or so percent range," says ADPH Assistant State Health Officer, Dr. Karen Landers.
Landers says the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have proven to be safe.
"I'm just asking people to consider again, the individual benefit that vaccine can be for you as a person and the way that it can really help you in terms of your being able to get out and normalize your activities," says Landers.