Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Expected in Santa Barbara County
Drug Manufacturer Says Ready to Ship 'Within Hours' of Emergency Use Authorization in December
A third wave of coronavirus cases continues to crest around the world, but positive news came of working vaccines from two drug manufacturers — one of which has applied for emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The first vaccines should be available in Santa Barbara County as early as the end of the year, the county’s Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg announced on November 13.
Today Pfizer released the news that it had submitted its BNT162b2 vaccine for emergency use authorization (EUA) to the Food and Drug Administration, the same emergency process that has allowed virus test kits of varying efficacy to enter the market. Pfizer stated that once the authorization was approved, it would be ready to ship the drug “within hours,” with the timeframe most likely by mid- to late-December. It expects to produce 50 million doses this year, and 1.3 billion by the end of 2021, with global distribution. Pfizer’s partner in the vaccine development is BioNTech of Germany.
Moderna, the second manufacturer to announce a vaccine, stated its vaccine was 95 percent effective and that it would apply for an EUA within two weeks. Pfizer’s is said to be equally efficacious, but must be stored at much colder sub-zero temperatures than Moderna’s.
