Something more precious that gold is on its way to a pandemic-weary America.
In a piece of history-making news, this morning, Dec. 13 Pfizer announced that trucks were loaded with the first vaccines to combat COVID-19 at its Michigan plant, and are headed under the guard of Federal Marshalls, to 636 pre-designated distribution points.
If all goes well, vaccines should begin arriving in states tomorrow. As reported in Friday’s Ark Valley Voice article which announced the phases for vaccine distribution, Colorado is expected to receive some 46,000 doses. The shipment has been allocated throughout the state. Phase one will be designated for healthcare first responders and long-term care facility residents and their caregivers. The general population ages 65 and over, and those with health conditions are expected to begin receiving the vaccine in late February and March.
Microscopic view of COVID-19 virus. The new vaccine works by disabling the characteristic “spike” protein that it uses to invade human cells. Image servprodowneyca.com
The Pfizer vaccine is the first to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It requires extremely cold storage to retain its efficacy, so medical centers began practicing last week on the process for administering it so that not a single vial is wasted.
The second vaccine to successfully complete clinical trials, Moderna, will be reviewed for approval by the FDA this coming Thursday, Dec. 17.
Both vaccines are the first of their kind; created with a whole new process that snips a fragment of COVID-19 DNA from its signature protein spikes, uses it to create the vaccine, and when injected, it tells the body to create its own immunity against COVID-19. While no one knows exactly how long this vaccine will protect people, the way that the vaccine is created means that it will be easy for scientists to tweak it as the vaccine mutates. The result; long term protection from what has swiftly become the number one cause of death in the U.S.
The vaccines come as the U.S. is again reaching heartbreaking records. The country is closing in on 300,000 lives lost due to COVID-19. Death rates are now regularly topping more than 3,000 per day every day, a rate that is expected to continue during the coming holidays and the dark winter months.
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