COVID-19 Vaccination: Anticipated Distribution Schedule

With the news of the CDC's recommendation to grant authorization to Pfizer for their #Covid19 #vaccine, a colleague who is also a Pharmacist shared this infographic and information. Re-sharing with her permission, and with her caveat that things may change.

Earlier today the CDC recommended that Pfizer BioNTech’s request for EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) be granted for their COVID-19 vaccine. There will be another meeting on Sunday at which point it is expected that the EUA will indeed be granted. If that happens, shipments will begin within 24 hours with doses expected to be given by the end of next week. Moderna's request is also expected to be granted relatively soon.

Both of these vaccines are a 2 shot sequence with Pfizer’s being 21 days after the initial dose and Moderna’s 28 days after the initial dose. These vaccines are not interchangeable so you should stay with the same manufacturer for the second shot.

There will be 3 phases to COVID-19 Vaccine Administration (see attached infographic)

>Phase 1: Long Term Care (LTC) patients and staff and healthcare workers - expected to be approximately 2-3 million lives - so 4-6 million doses needed. Then police, fire, and emergency medical workers. December-February timeline

>Phase 2: Individuals with 2+ comorbidities. Essential workers -corrections officers, food and agriculture, education, utilities, transportation - each state will determine who is considered essential so this may vary by state. Adults 65+. Lastly those with one comorbidity.

February-April expected timeframe

>Phase 3: The general public. April-June

There are no exact timelines for these phases and they may overlap Everything is very fluid at the moment. I’m not expecting to have them in my store until late February at best and probably even March.

There are several other companies with vaccines in the pipeline including Astra Zeneca and J&J so others may be coming in later.

The government owns all of the vaccine and therefore there will be NO out of pocket costs to the recipient. It will be paid for by Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial Insurance (employer) or billed to the government for those without health insurance.