By Rebecca Spalding
(Reuters) – A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel convened on Saturday to consider whether to recommend the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine. A vote would clear one of the final hurdles for public health authorities to begin the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met on Saturday morning and are expected to recommend the vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE as appropriate for adult Americans. ACIP is also expected to discuss whether pregnant women and teens as young as 16 should take it.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued an emergency use authorization for the vaccine, clearing it for use by the general public.
After the advisory group votes, the CDC is expected to consider and approve the recommendations.
State and local public health authorities will use FDA and CDC guidance as they administer the first 2.9 million doses of the vaccine released to state, cities, and territories by the federal government.
ACIP already recommended that authorities should prioritize healthcare workers and nursing home residents for the first doses that become available.
It then falls on states and certain large cities to start administering the vaccine to local hospitals and nursing homes. Hospitals are expected to start vaccinating their employees as early as Monday.
(Reporting by Rebecca Spalding, editing by Peter Henderson and Diane Craft)
