US Covid vaccine chief expects 100 million immunisations by March

Millions of the nation’s most vulnerable could receive vaccinations within months, but the CDC sees difficult winter ahead

A healthcare professional suits up with PPE at Van Wert County Hospital in Van Wert, Ohio, November 20, 2020. AFP

The US reported a record of more than 200,000 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, as the country’s vaccine chief Moncef Slaoui predicted that 100 million Americans could be vaccinated by the end of February.

There was also a record for Covid-19 hospital admissions across the country, topping 100,000 for the first time, The Washington Post reported.

This came as the head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Robert Redfield, predicted a dire winter ahead and advised Americans to avoid holiday travel.

“The reality is, December and January and February are going to be rough times,” Dr Redfield told the Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Calling it “the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation”, he said the death toll “could be close to 450,000 Americans” by February.

“We’re in that range potentially now, starting to see 1,500 to 2,000 to 2,500 deaths a day from this virus,” Dr Redfield said.

The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre put the Covid-19 death toll at 272,850 in the US on Wednesday, after the country on Tuesday registered its second highest single-day mortality figure of 2,597 deaths.

Hospitals across the US are stretched thin, caring for more than 98,600 patients with the virus, the university’s Covid tracking project said.

But Mr Slaoui, the top scientist advising the Trump administration, said he expected the Food and Drug Administration to approve at least one vaccine by the end of next week.

"We will have potentially immunised 100 million people [by March], which is really more or less the size of the significant at-risk population – the elderly, the healthcare workers, the first-line workers, people with co-morbidities," he said.

"I hope by the 10th or 11th of December, the Pfizer vaccine will be approved,” Mr Slaoui told ABC.

The Pfizer vaccine was approved in the UK on Wednesday.

“I would expect the FDA to reach a similar conclusion," he said. "The UK agency is a very, very high-level type of agency, comparable to the FDA in terms of its assessment."

A medical staff member checks on a patient's intravenous drip device in the Covid-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA. AFP

Patient Care Technician Fanta Keita treats a Covid-19 positive patient as she lays on an emergency room bed at Roseland Community Hospital on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Reuters

Medical personnel from the Ministry of Health of Panama performs a nasal swab tests to detect Covid-19 disease at a medical post in the district of San Miguelito in Panama City, Panama. EPA

PCR coronavirus tests are seen at a testing site in Malibu, California, USA. Reuters

A customer walks out of a Walgreen's pharmacy store in Seattle, Washington, USA. AP Photo

A USC research team member walks with a family after recruiting them to participate in a rapid antigen testing program at a walk-up Covid-19 testing site in San Fernando, California. AFP

A fan has their temperature checked outside the stadium in New Meadow, Shrewsbury, Britain. Reuters

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A boy looks out the window of a school bus in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Reuters

Students practice Covid-19 greetings during a health protocol class in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. EPA

People dine outdoors in Pasadena, California. AFP

An employee carries empty cups at a cafe in Tokyo, Japan. AP Photo

A Palestinian woman works on Christmas-themed gifts in a handicraft workshop in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters

People wait for a subway train in Frankfurt, Germany. AP Photo

People protest outside of the Mac's Public House after closed it down amid the Covid-19 pandemic in the Staten Island borough of New York City. Reuters

A street vendor sells colored balloons at Beirut's seaside corniche along the Mediterranean Sea, in Beirut, Lebanon. AP Photo

Cars are lined up at Dodger Stadium for Covid-19 testing as dusk falls over downtown in Los Angeles, California. AFP