The first two vaccines against COVID-19 could be available to Americans before Christmas, Health Secretary Alex Azar said on Monday, after Moderna Inc became the second vaccine maker likely to receive U.S. emergency authorization.

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) outside advisers will meet on December 10 to consider authorizing Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine. That vaccine could be approved and shipped within days, with Moderna's following one week behind that, Azar said.

"So we could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people's arms before Christmas," Azar said on "CBS This Morning."

The federal government will ship the vaccines through its normal vaccine distribution system, with state governors determining where they should go first, Azar said.

"They will be determining which groups to be prioritized. I would hope that the science and the evidence will be clear enough that our governors will follow the recommendations that we will make to them," he said.

However, health officials in many states say that even after the vaccines are approved the rollout to Americans nationwide could be slowed by shortages of personal protective equipment and other factors.

The non-partisan Government Accountability Office reported on Monday that some diagnostic test kits and accompanying reagents, as well as PPE are hard to come by "due to a supply chain with limited domestic production and high global demand."

More than 4.2 million new COVID-19 infections and 36,000 COVID-19 related deaths were reported across the United States in November, according to a Reuters tally. Hospitalizations are at a pandemic high and deaths the most in six months.

Nearly 93,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, up 11% from last week and double the number reported a month ago, a Reuters analysis of state and county public health reports show.

Beware of COVID-19 vaccine and equipment scams  

As vaccines inch toward approval, criminals are also waiting to go all out to their advantage. Homeland Security investigators said they are working with dozens of drug companies like Pfizer and Moderna to prevent scams. 

As the pandemic continues to roll out in the states, phony personal protective equipment, false cures and extortion schemes have become common.

Earlier this year as cases exploded, hospitals and governments grew short on masks, gloves and other protective gear. Scams grew, too. Tricksters preyed on unwitting citizens to hand over money for goods they'd never receive.

"The FDA is particularly concerned that these deceptive and misleading products might cause Americans to delay or stop appropriate medical treatment, leading to serious and life-threatening harm," the agency said in a recent statement.

Home test kits, for example, were only made available to the public in the past few weeks. But investigators seized tens of thousands of fake kits in the months before. On the dark web, scammers were selling domain names like "coronaprevention.org" that are attractive to counterfeiters. In the U.S. alone, more than 1,000 fake websites a day have been removed during the pandemic.

Homeland Security investigators are now trying to warn the public before the vaccines are approved and begin distribution. They suggest people should only get a vaccine from an approved medical provider. They shouldn't respond to calls seeking personal information. And they shouldn't click on social media posts purporting to sell cures.

(With input from agencies)