For Americans, months of collective isolation and fear could soon be winding down. A coronavirus vaccine may be just weeks away.

According to Dr. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to accelerate vaccine development, the first Americans could receive the vaccine in mid-December.

With the vaccine within reach, we turn to more logistical questions: Who will receive the shots first? Who will distribute them? And what could go wrong?




Guest: Katie Thomas, who covers the drug industry for The New York Times.




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Background reading:

• Promising clinical trials have buoyed hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight. But even if the vaccines are authorized, only a sliver of the American public will be able to get one by the end of the year.
• In mid-December, 6.4 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are expected to be shipped across the United States in an initial push.