FDA Hoping to Expedite Vaccines for Emergency Use in December as COVID Surge Prompts Severe Restrictions

CBN News
11-17-2020

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Above: CBN News' Financial Editor, Drew Parkhill appeared on the Tuesday morning edition of The 700 Club to discuss the stock market and how it responded to the news of a second vaccine.

Governors and mayors across the country are implementing some severe restrictions for the second time as the coronavirus resurgence is shattering records. But there's also reason to hope, even in the midst of a new COVID surge.

For now, experts warn that the fall/winter season has already unleashed a nationwide spike that could overwhelm the health care system with nearly 70,000 people hospitalized since Sunday, and November is set to be the worst month yet.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) recently announced a ban on all indoor dining and in-person high school and college classes for at least three weeks beginning Wednesday. 

"We are in the worst moment of this pandemic to date," Whitmer said. "The situation has never been more dire. We are at the precipice and we need to take some action."

She even urged state residents not to gather with extended family members for Thanksgiving.

In Philadelphia, PA, officials are banning all public and private indoor gatherings. And New Jersey's Gov. Phil Murphy is restricting indoor gatherings to a maximum of 10 people.

California's Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he was pulling the "emergency brake" Monday on reopening the economy.

"We are sounding the alarm," Newsom said. "California is experiencing the fastest increase in cases we have seen yet - faster than what we experienced at the outset of the pandemic or even this summer. The spread of COVID-19, if left unchecked, could quickly overwhelm our health care system and lead to catastrophic outcomes."

Newsom's plan will likely put the state under restrictive rules such as banning all in-person worship services, forcing many indoor businesses to shut down, and closing many schools.

But there are also some hopeful signs over the latest announcements of vaccine success from Moderna and Pfizer. In the final phase of testing, vaccines from both companies proved very effective against COVID - Moderna's was nearly 95 percent effective.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the FDA is working "as quickly as possible" to clear the vaccine for emergency use.

"We hope those applications from both Pfizer and Moderna will get in as quickly as possible," Azar told CNBC. "We will independently call those balls and strikes on the data and evidence, but we're going to do so as quickly as possible, consistent with just making sure the science, the evidence, and the law support authorization."

Azar added that he anticipates nearly 40 million doses of vaccines to be produced by the end of 2020, which could immunize nearly 20 million people since the vaccines involve a series of two shots. 

"We hope that because of Moderna and Pfizer's vaccines which we've already been producing to have enough by the end of December to vaccinate 20 million of our most vulnerable citizens," he said.

"The product will roll off the production lines - tens and tens of millions of doses each month - and we'll vaccinate as we get them and as they're quality controlled and released."

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