Thursday will be a massive day in the fight against COVID-19, as an FDA panel will hold a hearing on whether to grant emergency use authorization to Pfizer's vaccine.

Canada became the latest country to approve Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, as the U.S. prepares to get the green light.

If vaccine shipments begin arriving across New York over the weekend and if vaccinations start next week, hospitals and nursing homes say they're ready.

"The freezers are plugged in. They've told us exactly how much we're going to get for the first batch and we're ready," says Nassau University Medical Center CEO Dr. Anthony Boutin. "It's two doses per person but they told us not to worry about the second dose. We've got 975, we've got three weeks ... within three weeks will probably get another 975."

It's a different situation for nursing homes like Gurwin Jewish in Commack, where an outside vendor will be administering the vaccine for now.

"Although we don't know exactly when will be getting it, we did select Walgreens as our pharmaceutical vendor," says Stu Almer, Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center CEO. "They would come to our understanding and they would administer the vaccine to staff and residents."

Thursday Dec. 10- 9 a.m.

The online web conference meeting will be available on:
YouTube
Twitter
FDA.gov

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