The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday granted the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine an emergency use authorization, paving the way for its imminent rollout across the country.
“I am authorizing the emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID‑19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19,” Denise Hinton, the agency’s chief scientist wrote in a letter to a Pfizer executive.
President Donald Trump said the first US vaccine will be administered “in less than 24 hours“.
“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 said, adding that governors would decide who would receive the shots first in their states.
“We want our senior citizens, health care workers and first responders to be first in line,” said Trump. “This will quickly and dramatically reduce deaths and hospitalizations.”
(Inputs from: AFP)
