US to immunise 100 million people by February: Top official

The United States is expecting to give coronavirus vaccine to about 100 million people by the end of February 2021, a top official said on Wednesday. 

The vaccination is likely to begin in the US within weeks once Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-NIH get approval. 

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 "Between mid-December, and the end of February, we will have potentially immunised 100 million people," said Moncef Slaoui, scientific advisor to the US administration's Operation Warp Speed (OWS) program, as quoted by news agency AFP.

Also read | Vaccines insufficient to prevent surge in coronavirus for next six months: WHO    

If the US achieves this target, it will cover about 40 per cent of the US's adult population. 

Slaoui also said that the goal of immunising 100 million people will cover the people "at-risk" that includes first responders, health care professionals and elderly. 

There will an "ample" amount of Covid-19 vaccine in December for three million people from long-term care facilities, he added. 

The remaining vaccination of the first tranche would be enough to cover the majority of the health care workers if states and other regions agree with federal recommendations to prioritize this group of people. 

As many as 20 million people in the US will be immunised in December, 30 million and 50 million in January and February respectively. 

However, this figure does not include vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca that are in the late-stage trials. 

Meanwhile, Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved by the United Kingdom on Wednesday. 

The US FDA will hold a public meeting of an advisory group on December 10 for Pfizer's vaccine and on December 17 for Moderna's drug following which it will be decided whether to grant an emergency use authorization (EUA) or not.