CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago officials are anticipating the first of thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccine to arrive here by the end of the year.
Health Commissioner Allison Arwady on Tuesday said she expects a possible rollout of a vaccine here in the next several weeks.
"I think it is likely that we may see the first emergency use authorization FDA approval for a COVID vaccine in the next few weeks. And if that happens, I think it's likely we could have our first COVID-19 vaccine here in Chicago before the end of the year," she said.
Dr. Arwady said it depends on the next data from trials, including safety data.
When it gets here, she said, she's expecting tens of thousands of doses, and they would most likely go to frontline health care workers.
It would be months before the vaccine is widely available, most likely not in the first quarter of the year, Arwady said.
The potentially good news comes with a sobering statistic Arwady shared: It's likely that 1 in every 15 Chicago residents has the coronavirus.
