The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it is working “rapidly” on finalizing its decision on issuing an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine with over 90 percent effectiveness.
On Friday, FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn M.D. issued an update regarding the matter after an independent advisory committee made a positive recommendation to authorize the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to combat the pandemic.
The United States is in desperate need to start vaccinating its population as the daily increases in positive COVID-19 cases and deaths is alarming. For the first time on Wednesday, the nation recorded at least 3,055 deaths from the disease. Yesterday, the U.S. added 223,570 cases and 2,923 deaths. As of this writing, the country has 15, 645, 955 total positive cases and 292,611 deaths based on data from Johns Hopkins University.
The FDA is expected to release its emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday and the vaccination could start as soon as Monday or Tuesday.
The U.S. could start COVID-19 vaccination next week
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is expecting the FDA’s authorization within days. He also stated that the federal government is working with Pfizer regarding the vaccine distribution.
