BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — "Vaccines are moving along fast and safely,” said President Donald Trump in a tweet Wednesday morning, on a day where the federal government also released its strategy on how to get a potential COVID-19 vaccine to all Americans.
The strategy is giving new insight into what a vaccine would be like for people.
For most, it would require two doses, 21 to 28 days apart. The vaccine will be free thanks to billions of dollars in taxpayer funding approved by Congress and allocated by the White House. And state and local health officials will be in charge of making plans to receive and distribute the vaccines. The document even encouraging local health agencies to “review their 2009 H1N1 pandemic vaccination response plans and lessons learned.”
Kern Public Health explaining they are no stranger to organizing frameworks for mass vaccinations, telling 23ABC in a statement:
"While many people will remember the mass vaccination campaign that occurred in response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, it’s important to remember that public health and the healthcare community continue to do this every year for seasonal flu. While we do not have details on exactly how the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be distributed throughout the country, we anticipate that public health will be involved in organizing, allocating, and administering the COVID-19 vaccine.”
The federal government says a massive information technology effort will also be needed to track who is getting which vaccines and when. The president discussing it during a news briefing Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s a great plan, a plan like no other. And we can start doing it, I believe, the day we come up with a vaccine.”
When exactly a vaccine will be available, is still up in the air though. There are currently no approved vaccines and at least three drugmakers expect to know if their potential vaccines work by the end of the year.
But the White House is making it clear they don't expect it to be long.
“We’re still of the belief that we will have a vaccine by the end of the year,” said Kayleigh McEnany, White House press secretary.
