With the promise of COVID-19 treatments on the horizon, members of the Trump administration’s vaccine and therapeutics development team are touting the efficacy of the potential vaccines and antibody treatments in older adults.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Tuesday approved a vaccine prioritization plan that places healthcare workers and long-term care residents at the front of the line.
Moncef Slaoui, Ph.D., chief science adviser for Operation Warp Speed, said during a briefing Wednesday that a final analysis of the Moderna vaccine has been completed and shows 94.1% efficacy against moderate to severe disease. He also said that, more importantly, 7,500 adults aged 65 or more years were part of the study, which produced “exceptionally good data” that the vaccine had an efficacy of 87.1% against moderate disease and 100% against severe disease in the older adult population.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar reiterated previous comments that “if all goes well,” the first shipment of vaccines will go out before the end of the year to vaccinate 20 million people. Azar said he expects that every American who wants to be vaccinated will be able to do so by spring.
Azar and Army Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer for Operation Warp Speed, also reiterated that individual state governments will determine final distribution priorities. States, Perna said, have varying circumstances and epidemiological situations, so state leaders “are in the best position to take our general national recommendations and translate them into more precise guidance for their state and its conditions.”
States already have been allocated 6.4 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 12.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, based on their populations, to plan for an expected approval and rollout.
“The states know their people, their populations the best,” Perna said, adding that he has not heard of any states planning to go against CDC guidance on priority distribution groups. “As they follow through with eventual emergency use authorization and the ACIP guidance put out [Tuesday], then have leaders taking responsibility and directing priority of vaccine into administration, or shots in arms. Our responsibility is to enable their plan, to empower their plan.”
Perna said states received $200 million in funding previously, with an additional $140 million delivered to the jurisdictions this month to help distribute vaccines. States must submit requests for doses of Pfizer’s vaccine and where they should be shipped by Friday. Plans for distributing the Moderna vaccine must be submitted by Dec. 11.
Antibody treatment shows promise
The federal government is continuing to expand access to COVID-19 treatments, Azar said. More than 157,000 patient courses of two antibody products have been delivered, with another 205,000 courses allocated for delivery, to more than 3,000 sites, he added. Azar touted the treatment as an option for adults aged 65 and older who are at high risk for contracting serious disease but have not been hospitalized.
“Receiving this treatment if you are in this category could help keep you out of the hospital, potentially helping to save your life,” he said.
Azar said that HHS and CVS Health agreed on a three-month pilot plan to give Eli Lilly’s recently approved COVID-19 treatment, bamlanivimab, to residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
