Daily US Times: A US government advisory panel advising the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended emergency approval for the Pfizer vaccine.
The decision comes after a 23-member panel met to determine whether the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks.
The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in the UK, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Bahrain.
The vaccine still needs to be formally approved by the FDA’s vaccine chief, which is expected in the coming days.
The recommendation comes a day after the US recorded more than 3,000 Covid related deaths in the latest 24-hour period – the highest death toll in a single day anywhere in the world.
On Wednesday, the US health secretary Alex Azar said that after the FDA meeting, “we could then have a vaccine within days, and be administering it to the most vulnerable by next week”.
The federal government’s vaccine distribution programme, named as Operation Warp Speed, has said that vaccine deliveries will begin within 24 hours of approval.
Pfizer plans to have 6.4 million doses ready for the United States in its first rollout round in late December. Because two shots are required per person, that is enough for three million people, out of a total 330 million US population.
Federal officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say the country’s 21 million healthcare workers should be prioritised first to get the vaccine, as well the three million elderly Americans living in long-term care homes.
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