US FDA gives EUA for Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) granted an emergency use authorisation for Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine which was shown to be 95 per cent effective in preventing the disease in a late-stage trial.

The FDA said the vaccine can be given to people aged 16 and older. Healthcare workers and elderly people in long-term care facilities are expected to be the main recipients of the first round of 2.9 million doses.

“The first vaccine will be administered in less than 24 hours said in a video posted on Twitter. I am proud to say we have made sure this vaccine will be free for all Americans,” US President Donald Trump.

The US government has said it will begin distributing the vaccine around the country immediately after FDA authorisation and that the first inoculations would happen early next week.

Millions of Americans could begin getting vaccinated this month, especially if a second vaccine from Moderna is quickly approved.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was first approved in Britain earlier this month, and UK residents began receiving the shots on Tuesday. Canada also authorised the vaccine and expects to start inoculations next week. Mexico and Bahrain have also approved the vaccine.

Others with vaccines in advanced development include Moderna, which could win emergency US authorisation as soon as next week, AstraZeneca with Oxford University, and Johnson & Johnson.

Top US infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci said, “If we do it efficiently enough by the second quarter of 2021, and by the end of summer or end of the third quarter, we may actually have enough herd immunity protecting our society,” he said. “And as we get to the end of 2021, we could approach very much some degree of normality that is close to where we were before.”