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White House hopes to have enough COVID-19 vaccine for 20 million Americans in December

But this relies on Pfizer getting emergency approval from the FDA.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
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Corinne Reichert
A paper face mask on an American flag

Pfizer is planning to apply for FDA emergency approval for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Angela Lang/CNET

The US government's Operation Warp Speed has announced it's hoping to have enough doses of COVID-19 vaccine for 20 million Americans in December. Speaking during a press conference Friday held by President Donald Trump, Operation Warp Speed leader Moncef Slaoui said that after December, he hopes to have enough vaccine doses for 25 million to 30 million more Americans per month.

This timeline, however, relies on the vaccine getting emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

The press conference followed US pharmaceutical company Pfizer on Monday announcing it has a vaccine that it says was 90% effective during trials. The company said it tested the vaccine on more than 40,000 people across six nations, with no serious concerns found.

Pfizer is planning to apply for FDA emergency approval next week, adding that if it receives the go-ahead, it'll produce around 50 million doses in 2020 and 1.3 billion in 2021. Pfizer's vaccine would require people to take two shots three weeks apart. 

Pfizer was not part of Operation Warp Speed and did not receive funding from the government.

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