Image Source: Getty / Mario Tama [1]

Just days after Pfizer reported that its COVID-19 vaccine has proven to be 95 percent effective [2], CDC Director Robert Redfield announced that the vaccine will likely be available "by the end of the second week in December." According to an interview Redfield did with Fox News, he projects that 40 million doses of the vaccine [3] will be produced before the end of the year. "That's enough to vaccinate 20 million people," he said. "But then it will continue through January and February and hopefully by March we'll start to see vaccine available for the general public."

Redfield added that, once the medication has been approved, it will be rolled out in a hierarchical manner, prioritising nursing home residents and healthcare providers. The news may be a relief to millions of households across the country, but Redfield urges the public to continue abiding by the CDC's recommended COVID-19 safety precautions [4] as we wait for the new vaccine to become widely available. "I want people to be vigilant because we're turning the corner now," he said. "You don't want to be the last group to end up getting COVID."