US clears Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine; Trump tweets first shot

Dr Jesse Erasmus checks vero cells as he works on the development of a replicon, or replicating, RNA vaccine, used to combat COVID-19 at a microbiology lab at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington. Pic/AFP

US regulators have approved the emergency use of the country's first COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for people aged 16 years and older, marking the beginning of the end of a catastrophic outbreak, which has killed nearly 3,00,000 Americans in just 11 months this year.

"The FDA's authorisation for emergency use of the first COVID-19 vaccine is a significant milestone in battling this devastating pandemic that has affected so many families in the US and around the world," Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said in a statement on Friday. Hahn hailed the "scientific innovation and public-private collaboration worldwide," which made the vaccine possible at record shattering speed.

President Donald Trump immediately released a video on Twitter, where he hailed the news as a "medical miracle" and said the first immunisations would take place "in less than 24 hours." The US joins the UK and Canada in kicking off mass vaccinations after vaccine development took place at record speed.

The first shots will go into the arms of frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents. The FDA approval came within 24 hours. On December 17, the FDA vaccine panel will review a vaccine from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, which has also shown over 90 per cent protection. Vaccines from Johnson & Johnson (single dose) and AstraZeneca/Oxford University are also in the pipeline.

7,15,59,878
TOTAL Number OF CORONAVIRUS CASES IN THE WORLD

16,03,953
Number OF DEATHS WORLDWIDE

4,97,80,422
Number OF RECOVERED PATIENTS

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