COVID-19 Vaccine News 'Very Positive' For US Economy In Medium Term - Fed Chair Powell

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2020) News of COVID-19 vaccine developments are rather positive for the US economy over the medium term as success in mitigating the virus will largely determine growth, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said before a senate panel.

"Recent news on the vaccine front is very positive for the medium term," Powell said on Tuesday. "As we have emphasized throughout the pandemic, the outlook for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend, in large part, on the success of efforts to keep the virus in check."

US Health Secretary Alex Azar told a CBS interview on Monday that if all went well, Americans could get their first shots of the coronavirus vaccine before Christmas, well before any previously anticipated deadline. Azar said this after Moderna Inc became the second drug company on Monday to apply for emergency authorization with the food and Drug Administration to push out doses to curb the virus.

Pfizer Inc, which filed for similar FDA approval earlier this month, used United Airlines to airlifted the first mass shipment of its COVID-19 vaccines to Chicago on Friday, CNBC reported.

Powell said the spike in new COVID-19 cases since the start of the autumn season in both the United States and abroad could be challenging over the next few months.

"A full economic recovery is unlikely until people are confident that it is safe to re-engage in a broad range of activities," the Fed chairman said. "For now, significant challenges and uncertainties remain, including timing, production and distribution, and efficacy across different groups. It remains difficult to assess the timing and scope of the economic implications of these developments with any degree of confidence."

Despite the progress in vaccines, health experts warn that the US hospital system could still be overwhelmed in the coming months by COVID-19 cases, as evidenced in the March-April period.

More than 13.3 million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus since January and more than 266,000 have died of related complications, data tracked by the Johns Hopkins University showed. In recent weeks, daily hospitalization of those infected have reached more than 100,000.