CDC director Robert Redfield: Pfizer COVID vaccine can now be administered in the US

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech can now be administered in the United States following a new approval from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Robert Redfield of the CDC accepted a recommendation to allow people aged 16 and older to receive the vaccination.

“As COVID-19 cases continue to surge throughout the U.S., CDC’s recommendation comes at a critical time,” Redfield said in a statement Sunday, according to CNBC. “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.”

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices established the terms of its recommendation for Redfield through a vote on Saturday.

Redfield said he signed off on the recommendation Saturday night.

Emergency use of the vaccine was authorized last Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The first round of boxes of the vaccine were shipped out of Kalamazoo, Mich., by Pfizer on Sunday and are expected to arrive in each of the 50 states by Monday.

On Sunday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said his state will begin to vaccinate health care workers on Tuesday at University Hospital in Newark.

New Jersey’s first 76,000 doses of the vaccine will go to health care workers and to long-term care residents and staff.

The U.S. has reported more confirmed cases of coronavirus than any other country with over 16 million. It’s also recorded the most deaths from the virus with more than 297,000 fatalities.

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