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COVID-19 vaccine could be coming your way in two weeks

Vice President Mike Pence told governors that the coronavirus vaccine could be coming in mid-December

By Herb Scribner Herb Scribnerhscribner@deseretnews.com
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In this Wednesday, June 24, 2020 file photo, a volunteer receives an injection at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg, as part of Africa’s first participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial developed at the University of Oxford in Britain in conjunction with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

A volunteer receives an injection at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg,on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, as part of Africa’s first participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial developed at the University of Oxford in Britain in conjunction with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Siphiwe Sibeko, Associated Press

Vice President Mike Pence recently told governors across the country that some doses of the COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed in two weeks, CBS News reports.

What’s going on:

Pence told governors during a call with the White House Coronavirus Task Force on Monday that Dec. 14 is the date to watch, according to CBS News.

Pence and the governors planned to lay out the timeline for vaccine distribution.

  • “We strongly believe the vaccine distribution process could begin as soon as the week of Dec. 14,” Pence said on the call, according to CBS News. “With this morning’s news that Moderna is joining Pfizer in submitting an Emergency Use Authorization, we continue to be on pace.”
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Review of the vaccines:

Of course, this depends on if the Food and Drug Administration will approval the emergency authorization. Pfizer’s application will be reviewed on Dec. 10. Moderna’s vaccine will be reviewed on Dec. 17, according to Bloomberg.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said the FDA will review the vaccines to make sure they’re safe to all Americans, according to CBS News.

  • “We do all the number crunching ourselves,” he said, according to CBS News. “We look line by line by line on all the data, on all the patients and manufacturing. We do statistical analyses and we come to our own conclusions to support a decision of either thumbs-up or thumbs-down.”
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What about Utah:

Most Utah residents can expect that COVID-19 vaccine doses by July, as the Deseret News reported. High priority groups will see the first available vaccine doses.

  • “All Utahns can anticipate a June or July time frame when they can start receiving the vaccine,” said Rich Lakin, director of immunizations at the Utah Department of Health, according to the Deseret News.