ORLANDO, Fla. — The FDA is meeting Thursday to discuss an emergency-use authorization for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
READ: COVID-19 vaccine vote: What time, what channel, livestream of the FDA meeting
The meeting, which started at 9 a.m., is expected to last several hours, and according to the agenda it will begin with presentations from the FDA and CDC on the latest vaccine research and data. Then doctors from Pfizer are expected to speak and answer questions.
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The meeting will conclude with a final committee discussion and a vote.
Once approved, doses of the vaccine will begin shipping within 24 hours.
When that approval happens, AdventHealth Orlando will be one of the first in Florida to get doses.
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U.S. officials hope to have the COVID-19 vaccines within just four days after the approval, which ultimately means if the Pfizer vaccine gets the green light on Thursday, we could have people getting the vaccine as early as next week.
Officials said 180,000 doses will be shipped to five Florida hospitals, including AdventHealth Orlando.
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Doctors at AdventHealth said that they will administer vaccines to hundreds of their employees everyday as soon as the vaccine is approved and distributed.
The hospitals have ultra cold freezers that can store the vaccine at -70 degrees.
An additional 80,000 doses will go to CVS and Walgreens for nursing home residents.
Medical personnel and people living in assisted care facilities will get the first round.
