COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Would Begin Within 24 Hours After Approval

THURSDAY, Sept. 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States would begin within 24 hours of its approval or emergency use authorization, and the plan is that no American will have to “pay a single dime” out of their own pocket for the vaccine, federal officials said Thursday.

The officials with Operation Warp Speed — the multiagency effort to get a COVID-19 vaccine to Americans — also said it is not clear when a vaccine might be available, even though President Donald Trump keeps claiming that one could be ready before the election on Nov. 3, The New York Times reported.

“We’re dealing in a world of great uncertainty. We don’t know the timing of when we’ll have a vaccine, we don’t know the quantities, we don’t know the efficacy of those vaccines,” said Paul Mango, the deputy chief of staff for policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“This is a really quite extraordinary, logistically complex undertaking, and [there are] a lot of uncertainties right now,” Mango told The Times. “I think the message we want you to leave with is, we are prepared for all of those uncertainties.”

The New York Times Article