Trump administration plans to offer COVID-19 vaccine to all US citizens free of charge

Trump administration unveiled its COVID-19 vaccine delivery plan on Tuesday, September 16 which entails administering the drug to all US citizens free of charge. According to reports, the US government believes a COVID-19 vaccine will be available as soon as January and the distribution plans are outlined in two documents released by the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Defense.

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Operation Warp Speed

As per reports, the Trump administration plans on delivering a ‘safe and effective’ COVID-19 vaccine to multiple sites with no cost for the providers and no out of pocket charge for the recipient.

In a statement, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar informed that the vaccine development process has been guided by science and data. The statement also revealed that there may be limited availability of the vaccine in the initial stages and in such an event, front line workers and essential workers would be given priority.

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The statement also mentioned that while the Pentagon would be assisting in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, it would be administered by civilian health workers.

Earlier in May, the Trump administration had launched Operation Warp Speed, a partnership project with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, with the objective of facilitating and accelerating the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. 

In July, Novavax Inc. announced receiving $1.6 billion from the United States government under Operation Warp Speed for its COVID-19 vaccine programme. According to reports, the funds were to encourage advanced human trials of the possible vaccine and allow the company to establish a manufacturing method that will make it possible to produce 100 million doses of the possible COVID-19 vaccine as early as late 2020.

As per the John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre, the United States has reported a total of at least 6.5 million positive virus cases and has a death toll of more than 196,000. The US currently has the highest number of reported cases in the world, making it the epicentre of the deadly virus. The COVID-19 virus has managed to infect more than 29 million people worldwide.

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