(WXYZ) — Michigan will receive approximately 84,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in first shipment, once approved by the FDA, state officials said Thursday.
RELATED: Michigan could get COVID-19 vaccine to general public by late spring, officials say
The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is currently holding a meeting to consider Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, which has already gotten authorization from officials in Canada and the UK.
The committee will weigh the vaccine’s efficacy, and could issue an emergency use authorization of the vaccine by early next week.
An emergency use authorization allows practitioners to administer a vaccine despite it not gaining full FDA approval. The EUA means that the vaccine is allowed to be used in non-clinical settings, which would allow Americans not in a trial or hospital setting to get the vaccine.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Dr. Joneigh Khaldun has said that there are 48 hospitals and 12 local health departments that have the freezer capabilities to be able to receive and administer the Pfizer vaccine.
Additionally, Dr. Khaldun said that once the Moderna vaccine is approved, expected later this month, Michigan will receive an estimated 173,000 doses in its first shipment.
The state's first priority, she said, will be to keep healthcare systems operating. That means the first vaccines will likely go to frontline healthcare workers, EMS workers, and other workers in ICUS and emergency departments. They will also likely go to those living and working in long-term care facilities.
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