UPDATE Friday, Dec. 11, 2020, 10:30 AM EST

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is “rapidly” working toward clearing Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use after a key panel overwhelmingly endorsed the shots on Thursday, Dec.10, Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement on Dec. 11.

A successful rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine in the coming months could result in the United States having the pandemic in check by the “back half of 2021,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday Dec. 8 at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit.

Dr. Anthony Fauci

With the coronavirus under control, Fauci indicated that the resumption of something like pre-pandemic life could likely occur, with employees able to return to offices, restaurants able to open indoor dining at full capacity and patrons able to fill sports stadiums and theaters again, CNBC reported. All that would be welcomed by the promotional products industry, leaders for which have made clear that a return to pre-pandemic industry sales levels will only occur after the virus is controlled.

“I think we can get there towards the second half of 2021 if we implement the vaccine program properly and aggressively,” said Fauci, top White House adviser on the coronavirus and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Doing so, Fauci noted, requires buy-in from the public. He said it’s looking good that enough vaccine doses will be available for all Americans by late March and early April. About 75% or more of the U.S. population will need to get vaccinated to create the herd immunity necessary to quell the virus.

Still, whether there will be willingness among that many Americans to get vaccinated is an open question. Among some in the U.S. there is skepticism over the vaccine, with Fauci stating that there’s a “small core” of individuals who will refuse to take the vaccine no matter what. He said such folks shouldn’t be given up on, but said that education efforts should be focused on convincing people who are hesitant (because they have a “misunderstanding of the facts”) to get vaccinated.

CNBC reported that the U.S. coronavirus case count surpassed 15 million on Tuesday, Dec.8, adding another 1 million confirmed infections in just four days. “It’s the highest cumulative case total in the world by a margin of more than 5 million,” the news outlet said.

Still, some good news on the vaccine front could be on the way later this week.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday, Dec. 8 that data from Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine trials was consistent with recommendations put forth by the agency for an emergency use authorization. The FDA further noted that the vaccine was highly effective and did not raise any specific safety concerns.

The FDA is expected to decide whether to authorize Pfizer’s vaccine within days. As part of the potential authorization process, a group of medical experts is set to meet Thursday, Dec. 10 to review the vaccine. The United Kingdom began mass vaccinating on Dec. 8. The vaccine was previously approved for emergency use there.