COVID-19 Vaccine Information You Don't Have

While the headline for this podcast is "Why Did the U.S. Turn Down Vaccine Doses?" there is other good information contained in the podcast.

This includes:

• The Warp Speed strategy to support three different vaccine development processes
• The reason why Pfzier declined federal funding
• The total number of doses expected to be available in the next few months
• Why are there production limitations for the vaccines?

Lastly, from the podcast it looks like it is primarily only in retrospect that the decision not to purchase another 100 million doses looks to be a poor decision. However, it is pointed out that there really wasn't any risk for the federal government, since they were not obligated to purchase the additional doses if the vaccine was not approved. 

With the Moderna vaccine being in the mix, we'll have a total of 100 million doses of vaccines to immunize a total of 50 million people (assuming Moderna also gets emergency authorization — like what happened on Thursday of this week for Pfizer). 

Then, it appears there will be a drought in the flow of vaccines. It is possible that other vaccine candidates will be approved in the first months of 2021, Johnson & Johnson's being one of them. 

A few other vaccine tidbits to note:

• Vaccines are being shipped with the associated needles and swabs needed to accomplish vaccinations. 
• Vaccines are being distributed to states on a proportionate basis based on population. 

Then, some worry that the vaccine development was rushed without all the safety precautions being taken. In another newscast, I heard that what was cut from the development timeline was not the safety measures, but other development steps normally taken by companies, such as a business development case study to ensure there is a market for the vaccine. With the federal government buying the vaccines, that removed these risks and eliminated the need to do that type of due diligence for business purposes. 

I have seen rosy projections that the majority of Americans wanting a vaccine can likely get one by the middle of next year, maybe July? With what I've read so far, it does not look like that goal will be met. Maybe there is more news coming, but the supply issue looks to be a limiting factor at this point in time.