Regulatory Committee recommends approval of Pfizer's vaccine in the USA  

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee on Thursday recommended urgent approval of Pfizer's covid-19 vaccine, a key step in its distribution to millions of Americans.  

Members of the FDA's Vaccine and Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 17 in favour, 4 against and 1 abstention to have the vaccine administered to all individuals at least 16 years old, the age at which Pfizer has demonstrated that it is safe to administer.  

The committee's vote in favour, which it debated for nearly ten hours this Thursday, is not binding and does not mean that the vaccine has automatically been given the green light, as it is up to the FDA to make the final decision.    

 In an interview with NBC today, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn reaffirmed that the vaccine's approval will come "very soon" after the expert committee's evaluation, although he did not specify the exact date.  

After the vote, CNN said that approval could come as early as this Thursday or tomorrow, Friday.  

If the FDA finally decides to approve Pfizer's vaccine, the US will become the fifth country in the world to give the go-ahead to the remedy after the UK, Bahrain, Canada and Saudi Arabia.  

Once the regulators put their stamp of approval, the first doses could reach all 50 US states and territories within 24-48 hours.  

Between Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccine, which could be approved next week, Donald Trump's government plans to distribute 40 million doses to 20 million people this December.    

One of the stellar interventions on the committee was that of Pfizer's head of vaccine research and development, Kathrin Jansen, who argued that immunization is the only known way to combat the virus, as no treatment has been proven completely effective.  

"No one is safe from this disease. It has become very clear, especially now with the growth of cases around the world, and also in the US, that we need a vaccine to end this devastating pandemic," she said.  

He also offered data on the safety of his vaccine, explaining that no negative reactions were observed in the 43,448 trial participants, half of whom received the vaccine and half the placebo, and that it was proven to be 95% effective when given the two doses it contains.  

In contrast to Pfizer's confidence, Nissa Shaffi of the National Consumers League (LNC) expressed concern about the allergic reactions suffered by two people vaccinated in the UK on Tuesday, which has led UK authorities to ask those with severe allergies not to be immunised.  

"We ask the FDA to heed these warnings and to continue to play an important role in collaboration and distribution of the vaccine to avoid any inconvenience," Shaffi requested.  

Approval of Pfizer's vaccine could come at a key time as the United States is averaging more than 200,000 cases per day and nearly 3,000 deaths every 24 hours.  

This Thursday, in fact, the United States broke through the 3,000 daily death barrier for the first time since the start of the pandemic, according to an independent count from Johns Hopkins University.  

The most recent data from this institution indicate that 15,599,122 people have been infected in the United States and 292,001 have died, more than in any other country in the world.