First batch of vaccines will go to hospital workers, first responders

•November 25, 2020•
By Sarah Mansur
Capitol News Illinois
smansur@capitolnewsillinois.com

After Pfizer submitted its application for a COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week, Illinois public health officials have continued preparing locations to store and distribute the vaccine that could be released to frontline hospital workers in a matter of weeks.
Pfizer announced Friday that it planned to submit its COVID-19 vaccine application for emergency approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — a process that could take between two and four weeks, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said during Friday’s daily news conference.
On Friday, Ezike said she expects the state will receive about 400,000 doses of the vaccine in the first round of distribution.
“That is the number that we’re working with to identify how we will partition that out for the first phase,” she said.
“And we already know that we heard directly from General (Gustave) Perna that, as soon as FDA approval is granted, the next day they would start shipping out vaccines,” she added.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.