The FDA's vaccine advisory committee recommended emergency use authorization for Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine on Thursday. After a 17-4 vote, the FDA could authorize the vaccine as early as Friday, December 11th.
If approved, the United States will be the fourth country to approve the vaccine and it will be distributed to all of the country's 64 jurisdictions. Health systems around the country have already started scheduling shots for frontline workers as early as December 15.
The United Kingdom authorized Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine last week and administered the first doses Tuesday. Bahrain was the second country to authorize the vaccine after previously authorizing a Chinese vaccine. Canada became the third country to authorize the vaccine and 30,000 doses are expected to arrive on Monday, December 14.
While the U.K.'s approval was based on data from Pfizer and BioNTech's clinical trials, the FDA requires an independent review.
"We're one of the only regulatory bodies in the world that doesn't just take the data companies give them," said Dr. Peter Marks, Director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "Sometimes we learn things the manufacturers didn't even know by doing our analyses."
Vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit suggested Pfizer conduct a study on people with allergies after the U.K. reported two cases of allergic reactions. There are currently tens of millions living with allergies in the U.S.
The Director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield, confirmed COVID-19 has surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of death in the U.S.
Source: Yahoo! Finance
Comments
Post a Comment