(UnitedVoice.com) – The FDA Commissioner said on Sunday that he hopes the first coronavirus vaccines will be given on Monday, December 14 – but he’s still waiting for more government bureaucrats to sign off on the treatment. Thousands of doses have been distributed, hospitals are ready to give the shots, but the CDC hasn’t authorized it yet.
Talking to CNN on December 13, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said he wants vaccination to start “very expeditiously, hopefully tomorrow.” However, while the FDA – which regulates medicines in the US – has approved the vaccine, the CDC still has to sign off on last week’s recommendation. When host Jake Tapper asked Hahn what’s causing the delay he replied that he “doesn’t know the answer to that question.”
“Because of the clinical trial data the risk appears to be low but we need to be very careful about this and make sure that we administer this appropriately,” FDA chief Hahn tells @MarthaRaddatz when asked about potential allergies to COVID-19 vaccine. https://t.co/mPVAetYtc6 pic.twitter.com/9K0S0e1Cxa
— ABC News (@ABC) December 13, 2020
The FDA itself has faced criticism for delaying the vaccine, with Hahn only greenlighting it under pressure and President Trump saying it could’ve been approved a week earlier. Hahn defended his agency, saying it couldn’t have been approved any sooner than it was. However, the UK managed to approve it a week before the FDA did, which suggests the president was right all along.
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