By Health In Five Writer
A third vaccine to stave off COVID-19 could get US approval as early as next month, a top U.S. health official told ABC News as the second vaccine began shipping out nationwide.
Admiral Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said that data was yet to be released on the novel coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson and Janssen, but that if approved it would give the United States its third vaccine following ones from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc.
He said US officials are very hopeful that three Covid-19 vaccines will be available by next month, with more to come. He also said that the government is working with Abbott to increase production of swabs used in Covid-19 tests. Giroir said he sees no reason for alarm as of now over new strain of Covid-19 that surfaced in UK.
An ambitious target to get 20 mn Americans started with their first shot of the two-dose vaccine regimen before end of 2020 could slip into first week of January, US Army General Gustave Perna told reporters recently.
Shipments of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine began leaving warehouses early on Sunday, heading for healthcare facilities around the United States in a push to distribute the second approved coronavirus vaccine.
The distribution of Moderna’s vaccine to more than 3,700 locations in the United States will vastly widen the rollout started last week by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE.
