COVID: US FDA approves Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine

The United State of America’s Food and Drug Administration(FDA) has authorized the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for an emergency use by the country in its fight against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, CNN report has said.

The news of the approval comes days after the President; Mr Donald Trump mounted pressure on the FDA to release the vaccine to save lives.

The 95% efficacy vaccine produced by an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation, Pfizer and a German biotechnology company, BioNTech, is expected to be distributed around the country in few days for emergency use with nursing home residents and health care workers listed to be the first to be administered with.

US FDA Boss speaks on the emergency authorization

A statement from the FDA Commissioner, Dr Stephen Hahn said the authorization of the vaccine marks a significant milestone in the country’s fight against the disease which has killed about 302,750 people in the country.

“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”.

According to him, the emergency approval follows a thorough examination by industry experts for safety, effectiveness among others and attributed the achievement in the shortest possible time to scientific innovation and global collaboration.

“Today’s action follows an open and transparent review process that included input from independent scientific and public health experts and a thorough evaluation by the agency’s career scientists to ensure this vaccine met FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization”.

“The tireless work to develop a new vaccine to prevent this novel, serious, and life-threatening disease in an expedited time frame after its emergence is a true testament to scientific innovation and public-private collaboration worldwide,” the statement added.

The vaccine, however requires a vote of recommendation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Immunization Advisory Committee and subsequent acceptance before vaccination could begin.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

The United State of America is one of the hardest hit of the coronavirus disease first recorded in China last year and spread through the world over early this year.

The country has recorded a total of 16,295,458 with more than 300,000 death as at December 12, this year.

Globally, the John Hopkins University report about 70 million confirmed cases in 190 countries with more than 1.5 million deaths.