FDA approves emergency use of the first coronavirus vaccine in the US
The Food and Drug Administration has officially allowed emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine in the United States.
"Having concluded that the criteria for issuance of this authorization under Section 564(c) of the Act are met, I am authorizing the emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID‑19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19, as described in the Scope of Authorization section of this letter (Section II) and subject to the terms of this authorization,” its chief scientist Denise M. Hinton said, according to an ABC News report.
In a video posted in his official Twitter account, President Donald Trump said it will be "administered in less than 24 hours. The governors decide where the vaccines will go in their state and who will get them first. We want our senior citizens, health care workers and first respondents to be first in line."
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2020
As of this writing, over 290,000 have died in the US due to the virus, with a case count that has climbed to 15 million, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Last November, the final analysis of the Phase 3 trial of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine showed a 95% efficacy in curbing the spread of the virus.
The U.K. has started distributing it, with a 90-year-old grandmother from England being the very first to be vaccinated against the infectious disease.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has allowed the emergency use authorization for coronavirus drugs and vaccines by signing Executive Order No. 121 that reads, "Outside clinical trials and except in cases where a Compassionate Special Permit is issued no unregistered Covid-19 drug and vaccine may be manufactured, sold, imported, exported, distributed or transferred without an EUA."