The United States said it authorized the use of Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use only. Pfizer said it would start shipping vaccine immediately.
The US authorities are planning to start vaccination process from Monday. The government is expecting acceleration of vaccination process in the coming weeks as a second vaccine from Moderna is quickly approved.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for the vaccine, Pfizer has developed vaccine with German partner BioNTech, and this vaccine has shown to be 95% effective in preventing the disease in a late-stage trial.
The initial shipment of 6.4 million doses will leave warehouses within 24 hours while other half will be reserved for the second dose which will be given to the initial recipients after three week. This is a turning point for the US where the pandemic has killed more than 295,000 people.
