Trump to Sign Executive Order to Administer COVID-19 Vaccine to Americans First
President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order on Tuesday to ensure that all Americans will have access to COVID-19 vaccines before aiding other countries.
On Monday, senior administration officials said the president would like to emphasize again to the American people his "America First" approach and philosophy.
The announcement was made before the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) meeting this coming Thursday.
The meeting would be on the Pfizer-BioNTech's application for emergency use authorization of their vaccine candidate. The FDA also scheduled Dec. 17 for discussions with Moderna's vaccine.
Pfizer-BioNTech authorization could be done as early as Friday, according to a White House Coronavirus Task Force source.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said last week that they are looking forward to the approval and moving quickly.
"The priority is to make sure we distribute these vaccines to Americans before we start shipping them around the world to get international access," an official said in a Fox News report.
The official noted that international assistance could come in late spring or early summer after achieving those who wanted to be vaccinated.
The order will instruct the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to prioritize the vaccine's distribution to Americans quickly. The order will be released with a framework for international access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The framework will provide guidelines on how the USAID, HHS, the Export-Import Bank, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. will operate with foreign countries to bring an end to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, a senior administration official said that for countries that are not as financially well-off, they would provide leverage resources to help them obtain a vaccine.
Aside from this, they will also assist in garnering ancillary supplies needed to administer and track. Also, through the order, the U.S. government can be sure to help low-income countries.
The officials said that they expect late spring or early summer for international assistance. However, they added that the timeline for assistance could be moved depending on how they dealt with other vaccine candidates.
By the second quarter of 2021, the average Americans can be part of vaccination efforts, according to Alex Azar, Secretary of the HHS.
Officials reiterated that in the U.S., the first in line to receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine would be healthcare workers, the vulnerable population, those in nursing homes, and long-term care facilities.
Officials added that states have already developed distribution plans for the COVID-19 vaccine efforts seen to take effect.
"When we get beyond that, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) will further refine distribution plans," one official said in a Fox News report.
The official added that the Trump administration had already collaborated with the federal government, the private sector, and other international partners regarding this matter.
Once a vaccine is approved, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet to get more details about "where the other doses go."
The U.S. government has placed an initial order of 100 million doses for Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine. They will start shipping initial doses soon after receiving the FDA approval for the vaccine.
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