Vaccines Offer Hope, But Remain Months Away

As the Center for Disease Control Vaccine Advisory Committee meets to recommend who should get the first vials of coronavirus vaccine, the need is growing. NBC's Jay Gray reports.

(NBC News) — As the Center for Disease Control Vaccine Advisory Committee meets to recommend who should get the first vials of coronavirus vaccine, the need is growing.

“Sadly we’re already seeing the impact of holiday travel in a bad way, with record numbers now of infected people hospitalized patients and sadly deaths from COVID,” says Dr. Helen Boucher, Chief of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center.

Medical facilities are running out of beds, and in some hotspots field hospitals are being deployed.

The Department of Defense is sending military medics into areas to support hospital staff overwhelmed by the surge.

Experts are also warning that although vaccines could be approved for emergency use authorization in the coming weeks, it will still be months before they’re available to most Americans.

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