First U.S. COVID-19 shots could be given 24 to 48 hours after FDA nod - health official

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Healthcare workers and others recommended for the first COVID-19 inoculations could start getting shots within 24 hours or at most within 36-48 hours after the vaccine receives regulatory nod, the chief adviser for the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed COVID-19 vaccine program said on Tuesday.

The adviser, Moncef Slaoui, said he hopes 20 million people will be immunized by the end of this year.

"Within 24 hours, maybe at most 36 to 48 hours, from the approval, the vaccine can be in people's arms," Slaoui said at an event conducted by The Washington Post. (Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)