The third COVID-19 vaccine could be okay with the feds as early as January, a chief federal health official said Sunday.
“J&J is the next vaccine to come [Johnson & Johnson] no Janssen. We would expect that authority to be in place in January, “Admiral Brett Giroir, who is on the White House’s COVID-19 action group, told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on” The this week. ”He said.
“We do not know the results. But we are very hopeful that, by January, we will have at least three vaccines, with – with more to come. ”
Giroir, deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said a vaccine could be available in the U.S. for “anyone” who wants one by June.
“We are very confident that anyone in America who wants a vaccine will have the opportunity to be vaccinated,” he said.
Giroir said even without the third vaccine, the country is on track to roll out 20 million doses of vaccine at least before the first week in January, with photos from both Pfizer and Moderna getting emergency use permission
About 30 million more doses are expected for the rest of January and another 50 million in February, Giroir said.
But Giroir stressed that Americans still have to adhere to public health recommendations – like wearing a mask – despite promises of support on the horizon.
“The most important thing that Americans need to do is, even though we see the end of the pandemic – and it will end with widespread vaccination in this country – we have a lot of work to do,” said Giroir.
“In fact, the lives of tens of thousands of Americans depend on what we do. ”