Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar gives update on Pfizer coronavirus vaccine emergency approval.
The Food and Drug Administration will grant emergency-use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday.
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“At this point, it is really a matter of working out some final details,” Azar said on “Mornings with Maria.” “Within the next couple of days, it ought to come out and we’ll start having Pfizer ship that vaccine to where governors have told us.”
PFIZER’S CORONAVIRUS VACCINE: WHAT TO KNOW
The news comes after an FDA advisory panel voted Thursday to endorse the 95%-effective inoculation, which cleared the way for emergency authorization and distribution.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 41.73 | -0.12 | -0.29% |
| BNTX | BIONTECH SE | 129.54 | +6.73 | +5.48% |
Front-line health care workers and residents at long-term care facilities are expected to be the first recipients of the vaccine after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield last week upheld the vote of an independent panel.
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Pharmaceutical companies Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johson & Johnson are also in the final stages of development for their respective COVID-19 vaccines; the FDA is expected to approve Moderna’s later this month.
Azar said up to 20 million Pfizer vaccine doses could be distributed in 2020 and up to 100 million by the end of February.
Developing a vaccine for the disease, which reached pandemic proportions after it was identified in Wuhan, China, late last year has been a top priority for the Trump administration through its Operation Warp Speed.
The disease has killed more than 289,000 people in the U.S., a higher death toll than any other nation, and crushed the country’s economy. The benefits from a congressional relief package in the spring have largely dissipated, and small businesses have been pleading for assistance to survive the winter.
The Democratic House of Representatives and the GOP-led Senate have yet to reach an agreement with each other or the Trump administration, however, with just days left before the end of the current congressional session.
