Dozens of COVID-19 vaccine candidates in development as first doses prepare to be shipped

Minnesota is planning logistics for Phase 1A of its COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan. The first set of vaccines for health care workers and long-term care residents would likely come from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. However, more help could be on the way.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, as of Nov. 24, there were large-scale (phase 3) clinical trials in progress or being planned for five COVID-19 vaccines in the United States.

The World Health Organization says there are 50 vaccines under clinical evaluation with dozens more in the works around the world.

"The Pfizer and Moderna, although they were the fastest, they’re harder to scale: the manufacturing, the thermo-stability and the cost per unit is higher," Bill Gates, with the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation, said while speaking virtually at the Singapore FinTech Festival.

Gates said they’re keeping an eye on other vaccine producers including AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax. Gates said all three of those candidates rely on traditional vaccine technology, meaning they could be developed and stored at a relatively lower cost.

"A lot of the scaling will be these more-classic non mRNA vaccines, but the goal is to get these things out as much as possible within 2021," Gates said.

From temperature to transportation, getting COVID-19 vaccines to Minnesotans is a complicated path

"I’m pretty hopeful and, really got to be honest from you, just from a logistical standpoint, I’m looking out for the one-dose vaccine that is supposed to come out in early January," Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday.

The Minnesota Department of Health said it’s still working through logistics on how its other vaccine rollout phases will be handled once Phase 1A is complete.

More information regarding the development of COVID-19 vaccines can be found at the links here and here.