Unlike the more established federal vaccine court, which decides cases of injury from most childhood vaccines and other common inoculations, the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program was created by a 2005 law specifically to deal with vaccines developed under emergency authorization. The idea was to allow pharmaceutical companies and government entities the freedom to develop and distribute vaccines to meet urgent public health needs without the threat of being overrun with expensive liability lawsuits. Under the program, drug makers can only be sued for “willful misconduct.”

Crucially for countries with relatively basic health infrastructure, the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine can be stored and transported under normal refrigeration, rather than supercooled to -70 degrees Celsius (-94 Fahrenheit).

India is keen to start administering the new shot next month; Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest producer of vaccines, has already made about 50 million doses. Chile is also interested.

China has made a global effort to reassure governments and populations about the efficacy and safety of its vaccines. In October, a group of ambassadors and diplomats representing 50 African countries toured a Sinopharm Group Co. facility amid a publicity blitz touting China’s promise to deliver vaccines to Africa. “When the coronavirus vaccine completes research and is put into use, we are willing to prioritize benefiting African countries,” said Liu Jingzhen, chairman of Sinopharm.

If you want to have enough vaccine to vaccinate all the people in the U.S. who you’d like to vaccinate up to 85 per cent or more of the population you’re going to need more than two companies,” Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, told The Associated Press on Monday.

The nation has repeatedly recorded more than 3,000 dead per day over the past few weeks.

“We are entering a very dangerous new phase of the pandemic, and we’re going to need decisive early national action to prevent a catastrophe in January and February,” said Andrew Hayward, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at University College London.

More than 71,000 people in Britain have died within 28 days of a positive test for the disease.

Federal Emergency Management Agency has received nearly 2,200 aid requests from hospitals and thus far has approved about 15% of them, for a total of $894 million, the agency told Reuters. Hospitals can request more money as U.S. infections surge, and FEMA officials expect total aid awards to rise significantly.

Some health policy experts say that large and well-capitalized nonprofit systems – which typically pay no taxes – do not need the additional relief money. Among the aid applicants are some of the nation’s best-known health systems, including the Cleveland Clinic, Providence and Stanford Health Care.