Trump says first coronavirus vaccine deliveries to occur next week
First doses will go to front-line workers, medical staff, and seniors
Vaccine deliveries for the novel coronavirus will begin as early as next week, said the president on Thursday evening.
"The whole world is suffering and we are rounding the curve ... the vaccines are being delivered next week or the week after," said President Trump.
The president made the announcement during a Thanksgiving holiday message to the troops that he delivered via teleconference.
Trump also took a swipe at Joe Biden, who he said should not be given credit for the vaccines, which he called a "medical miracle."
"Joe Biden failed with the swine flu, H1N1, totally failed with the swine flu. Don't let him take credit for the vaccines because the vaccines were me and I pushed people harder than they've ever been pushed before and we got that approved and through and nobody's ever seen anything like it," said the president.
On December 10, regulators at the Food and Drug Administration will review Pfizer Inc.'s request for an emergency authorization use for the vaccine it developed with BioNTech. Trial data released earlier this month show that the company's vaccine is testing at a 90% efficacy rate.
Moderna later said that its vaccine, which was developed with the NIH as part of Operation Warp Speed, showed a 94.5% efficacy rate in its late testing stages.