Reuters - Pfizer Inc with its partner BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc have released test data showing its Covid-19 vaccines are 95% effective at preventing the disease , while AstraZeneca Plc announced this week that its vaccine could be up to 90%.
If regulators approve any of the vaccines in the next few weeks, the companies have said distribution could begin almost immediately , with governments around the world deciding who gets it and in what order. The following is a summary of the process:
WHEN WILL COMPANIES RELEASE A VACCINE?
Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have already started manufacturing their vaccines. Pfizer said this year it will have enough to inoculate 25 million people; Moderna will have doses for 10 million people and AstraZeneca for more than 100 million.
The US Department of Defense and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will manage the distribution in that country, probably starting in mid-December with an initial release of 6.4 million doses.
UK health authorities plan to roll out an approved vaccine as quickly as possible , which is also expected in December.
In the European Union, it is up to each country in the 27-member bloc to begin distributing vaccines to their populations.
WHO AND WHEN WOULD GET AN APPROVED VACCINE IN THE UNITED STATES?
When cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the CDC has said that the first in line for vaccination would be about 21 million healthcare workers and 3 million residents in care facilities for the disabled and elderly.
Essential workers, a group of 87 million people who perform jobs that cannot be done from home , are the likely next group. This includes firefighters, police officers, school employees, transportation workers, agricultural and food workers.
About 100 million adults with high-risk medical conditions and 53 million adults over the age of 65 , also considered at high risk for serious illness, are the next priority.
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US public health officials said the vaccines will be available to most Americans in pharmacies, clinics and doctor's offices starting in April , so anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to have it by the end of June.
It is not clear when a vaccine will be available for children. Pfizer and BioNTech have begun testing their vaccine in volunteers as young as 12 years old.
WHEN WILL A VACCINE BE AVAILABLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES?
The European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and Australia are undergoing rapid regulatory processes for vaccines.
Many of this year's AstraZeneca doses are expected to go to the UK, where health officials have said that, if approved, they could start vaccinating people in December. At the top of their list are those who live and work in care homes .
In Europe, the EU drug regulator has said it could rule on the safety of a Covid-19 vaccine in December.
Most countries have said the first vaccines will go to the elderly and vulnerable and to front-line workers like doctors.
Countries are purchasing vaccines through the European Commission's joint procurement plan, which has agreements for six different vaccines and nearly 2 billion doses.
Delivery times vary, and most countries are still developing vaccine distribution and inoculation plans.
Italy expects to receive the first ones from Pfizer-BioNTech and that from AstraZeneca early next year. Spain plans to administer vaccines in January.
In Bulgaria, the country's chief health inspector expects the first shipments in March or April. Hungary's foreign minister said the doses will arrive at the earliest in the spring.
BioNTech home Germany hopes to launch the vaccines in early 2021 with mass vaccination centers in showrooms, airport terminals and concert venues. It will also use mobile teams for care homes. Frontline healthcare workers and people at risk of severe Covid-19 are expected to be inoculated first.
When will developing countries have access to vaccines?
COVAX, a program led by the World Health Organization and the GAVI vaccine group to raise funds from richer countries and non-profit organizations to purchase and distribute vaccines to dozens of poorer countries, has raised $ 2 billion .
Their first goal is to vaccinate 3% of the population of these countries with the ultimate goal of reaching 20%. You have signed a tentative agreement to purchase the AstraZeneca vaccine, which does not require to be stored in specialized ultra-cold equipment like the Pfizer vaccine.
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It is expected, although it is not certain, that the less wealthy countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, such as India, will receive the vaccines at low or no cost under this program in 2021. Other countries such as those in Latin America can buy vaccines through COVAX . Several of them have also been making supply deals with drug companies.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? Vaccine manufacturers and governments have negotiated variable prices, not all of them public. Governments have paid from a few dollars for each AstraZeneca vaccine to $ 50 for Pfizer's two-dose regimen. Many countries have said that they will cover the cost of inoculation for their citizens.
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