CDC director accepts advisory panel’s recommendation, clearing the way for vaccinations to begin

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has signed off on an advisory panel’s recommendation to use Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine in people 16 and older, clearing the way for inoculations to begin.

“As COVID-19 cases continue to surge throughout the U.S., CDC’s recommendation comes at a critical time. Initial COVID-19 vaccination is set to start as early as Monday, and this is the next step in our efforts to protect Americans, reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and help restore some normalcy to our lives and our country,” Robert Redfield said in a statement on Sunday. 

Redfield’s recommendation comes shortly after Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning that he was unsure why Redfield had yet to sign off on the authorization but expressed confidence in him.

“I don’t know the answer to that question,” Hahn said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I do know I’ve had a lot of conversations with Director Redfield and he is certainly on top of this and has a lot of confidence in the process.”

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend approval for the vaccine Saturday, although Redfield’s approval was required before the vaccine could be administered.

The panel recommended that health care providers monitor anyone with allergies for up to 30 minutes following the injection and that long-term care residents and health care workers be the first to receive the vaccine.

It also recommended that the second phase of inoculations comprise essential workers, people with underlying medical conditions and people older than 65.

The first shipments of the vaccine left Pfizer’s Michigan plant Sunday morning, with about 184,275 vials carried in 190 boxes. The plant is set to deploy another 390,000 vials Monday.