Washington (AFP)

Donald Trump's government is actively preparing the large-scale distribution of a possible coronavirus vaccine by November 1, just before the presidential election, demonstrating the frantic race undertaken by the most affected country in the world to win the epidemic.

The health authorities "urgently ask" that the federated states do what is necessary so that the distribution centers of a future vaccine can be "fully operational by November 1, 2020", wrote the director of the American Centers for prevention and disease control (CDC) Robert Redfield in a letter sent to governors last week and viewed by AFP.

The boss of the CDC mentions in particular the lifting of administrative restrictions, or the issuance of permits and licenses.

This is a new indication that the vaccine race is on full speed in the country, which has spent billions of dollars developing and producing a cure for the coronavirus.

Health authorities "are rapidly preparing for the implementation of a large-scale distribution of vaccines against Covid-19 in the fall of 2020", underlined in his letter Mr. Redfield.

President Donald Trump, candidate for re-election on November 3, said last week that the United States would have a vaccine "this year".

The Republican, whose economic record has been considerably tarnished by the pandemic, is betting everything on the rapid discovery of a vaccine.

- "Huge task" -

If several vaccines are currently in clinical trials, it is not certain that one of them will be effective and safe, but the authorities are already preparing a possible distribution in order to save precious time.

Several documents aimed at guiding States in preparing for this "immense task", in Mr. Redfield's words, were sent to them along with his letter.

One of these documents elaborates three scenarios depending on the progress of an "vaccine A" and a "vaccine B".

These appear to correspond to vaccines developed by the American laboratory Pfizer and the American biotech Moderna, according to the New York Times.

The United States has pre-ordered millions of doses from these two companies, but also from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Sanofi, in order to ensure rapid deliveries from the candidate who will prove to be the winner. .

"The scenarios described below should be used by states and local jurisdictions to develop an operational plan for early vaccination against Covid-19, while vaccine supplies will be limited," the document explains.

In the first scenario, according to which vaccine A demonstrates its effectiveness, it is estimated that around two million doses would be available at the end of October, then 10 to 20 million at the end of November (in the second scenario, vaccine B is effective, in the third, both vaccines are).

The document details the conditions necessary for their dispatch and storage, as well as the populations to be vaccinated as a priority, namely in particular the nursing staff and the so-called essential workers.

Further evidence that the United States is doing everything to make access to a vaccine as quickly as possible: the head of the United States Medicines Agency (FDA), Stephen Hahn, did not rule out the hypothesis of the authorization of a vaccine via an emergency procedure, even before the end of clinical trials.

These trials consist of administering the experimental vaccines to thousands of people and comparing the results to the same proportion of participants who have received placebos.

In his interview published Sunday by the Financial Times, Mr. Hahn defended himself being pressured by President Trump to authorize a vaccine before the presidential election.

© 2020 AFP