U.S. to begin distributing Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Monday

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The U.S. will begin delivering initial doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday, according to chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, Gen. Gus Perna.

"They will begin moving vaccine from the Pfizer manufacturing facility to the UPS and FedEx hubs, and then it will go out to the 636 locations nationwide, which were identified by the states and territories," Perna said on Saturday.

"We expect 145 sites across all the states to receive vaccine on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday, and the final 66 sites on Wednesday, which will complete the initial delivery of the Pfizer orders for vaccine."

The development comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday authorized Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

With the emergency clearance, the U.S. becomes the latest country to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The vaccine was first approved in Britain earlier this month.

The FDA said the vaccine can be given to people aged 16 and older. Healthcare workers and elderly people in long-term care facilities in U.S. are expected to be the main recipients of a first round of 2.9 million doses.

The U.S. remains to be the hardest-hit country globally by the pandemic, having recorded 15,860,841 confirmed infections and 295,621 deaths.

It accounts for 22.25 percent of the world's reported COVID-19 infections and 18.49 percent of the virus-related global fatalities.

(With input from agencies)