US official says 20 million Americans can be vaccinated in December

The United States hopes to immunize 20 million residents in December and at least 25 million each month in 2021, Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui said in a news conference at the White House.

"We plan to have enough vaccine doses available for use in the US population to immunize about 20 million individuals in the month of December and another 25 to 30 million per month on an ongoing basis," Slaoui said on Friday. "As of the month February or March, if we have more vaccine approved...we may be able to immunize a larger number of Americans on an ongoing basis per month."

Slaoui said he hopes two coronavirus vaccines in the final phase of clinical trails developed by Pfizer and Moderna will soon be approved for emergency use in December.

President Donald Trump said a vaccine will be more widely available for the US public by April of 2021.

The United States has reported more than 10.6 million coronavirus cases and more than 243,400 virus-related deaths as of Friday afternoon, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.