Dr. Peter Hotez: ‘Very Possible’ We’ll Have a Vaccine in 3-4 Weeks

EXCERPT:

HOTEZ: "I think that's very possible, because Pfizer's, which is the first vaccine, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine will be requesting emergency use authorization, it will take two or three weeks for the Food and Drug Administration to review all the data. Remember, when they review the data, they are actually going back to the primary data, they're not just looking at company press releases, that's why it takes a couple of weeks. And then, assuming that they confirm all of the evidence for efficacy and safety, what they will then do is present it to VRBPAC, which is a committee of the FDA, as well as the ACIP. And once that's done, I would say within 24 hours, you could start releasing vaccine to the public. When you add up those days, that's what it comes out to be, about two or three weeks. So, yes, I think it’s possible beginning with health care workers. We're hearing different reports about how many doses Pfizer will have by that period of time, whether it’s 25 million in the U.S. or 40 million. We're hearing different amounts. You get a sense of that. Then things will really pick up a lot in the new year."