The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday said that it has granted regulatory approval to Pfizer and BioNtech’s covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the country. It added that inoculations is expected to take place within day, raising hopes in the US which remains the worst country by the pandemic.
The news was confirmed by commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn in a statement.
“The FDA’s authorization for emergency use of the first Covid-19 vaccine is a significant milestone in battling this devastating pandemic that has affected so many families in the United States and around the world,” Hahn said.
In the first phase, Health workers and nursing home residents are expected to get vaccinated, a source close to the matter said.
With the latest development, US has joined other countries including United Kingdom, Canada and Bahrain among others in approving Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine.
“While not an FDA approval, today’s emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine holds the promise to alter the course of this pandemic in the United States,” said Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement.
“With science guiding our decision-making, the available safety and effectiveness data support the authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine because the vaccine’s known and potential benefits clearly outweigh its known and potential risks.”
Meanwhile, in a video posted on Twitter, Donald Trump hailed the decision and said that it is one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history.
“The United States is the first nation in the world to produce a verifiably safe and effective vaccine. Today’s achievement is a reminder of America’s unlimited potential,” Trump said in the video on Friday.
“The first vaccine will be administered in less than 24 hours,” Trump said in a televised address released on Twitter.
“Through our partnership with FedEx and UPS, we have already begun shipping the vaccine to every state and zip code in the country,” he added.
Pfizer and BioNTech’s covid-19 vaccine has proved an efficacy rate of over 95 per cent.
