U.S. authorizes Pfizer vaccine and will begin administering it within 24 hours
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the body that regulates the marketing of drugs, authorised the use of the covid-19 vaccine from US pharmaceutical company Pfizer on Friday.
This emergency authorisation (an exceptional procedure prior to approval) was signed by the FDA hours after the White House warned the agency's director, Stephen Hahn, that he could prepare his resignation if it was not processed today.
In a statement, Hahn said that "today's decision follows an open and transparent review process that included input from independent scientists and public health experts and a thorough evaluation by the agency's scientific professionals".
On the same night that the Supreme Court dashed outgoing President Donald Trump's last hopes of reversing the outcome of the presidential election, he scored a victory by authorising the vaccine to which he has devoted so much effort.
"Through our partnership with Fedex and UPS, we have already begun shipping the vaccine to every state and postcode in the country; the first vaccine will be administered in less than 24 hours," Trump announced in a solemn speech from the Oval Office.
Trump explained that "Governors decide where the vaccines will go in their states and who will receive them first.
"We want our seniors, health care workers and emergency workers to be first. That will quickly and dramatically reduce deaths and hospitalizations.
"When the virus in China invaded our shores, I promised that we would produce a vaccine in record time before the end of the year".
The vaccines announced by Trump are being distributed across the country as part of the first batch of 2.9 million doses that delivery officials said could be shipped within 24 hours of authorisation.
Pfizer has also pledged 25 million doses by the end of the year (two doses are required for each vaccine recipient) and to complete the 100 million doses purchased by the Trump Government in exchange for $1.95 billion by March.
In addition, as soon as next week the FDA could also authorize the Moderna vaccine, which would double the country's capacity to distribute and vaccinate its citizens.
Authorities have insisted that anyone who wants to be vaccinated will be able to do so before June 2021.
The United States becomes the sixth country in the world to authorize Pfizer's vaccine after the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
The authorisation came after an FDA scientific advisory committee on vaccines gave its approval on Thursday with 17 votes in favour, only 4 against and one abstention for the Pfizer vaccine.
Pfizer's vaccine comes at the worst time in the pandemic for the United States, which averages more than 200,000 infections a day and this week has broken the 3,000 death barrier within 24 hours.
The most recent data indicates that there are 15,834,965 infections and 294,874 deaths per covid-19, more than in any other country, according to the independent count from Johns Hopkins University.