It appears that Mississippi is just days away from receiving its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Monday morning that Mississippi could have 25,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by next week.
FDA meets Thursday to review Pfizer COVID vaccine (and full data available for review thereafter).
We hope to have ~25k doses for front-line healthcare by next week.https://t.co/HT1Vd4D4PB
— thomas dobbs (@TCBPubHealth) December 7, 2020
The doses would be used to vaccinate healthcare workers, consistent with the distribution strategy outlined by Dr. Dobbs in recent weeks. After healthcare and frontline workers, the next population to receive the vaccine will be employees and residents of Mississippi’s long-term care facilities.
As cases surge in Mississippi, and across the country, the MSDH recently issued new public health guidance advising everyone to avoid non-essential gatherings such as parties, weddings, funerals and sporting events.
“We’re almost to a vaccine that looks very effective and very safe, we’ve got to just have a little bit of discipline right now, or else we’re going to see a lot more funerals,” Dr. Dobbs said.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are awaiting final approval from the FDA after showing high efficacy rates with minimal side effects.
