FDA scientists give Pfizer vaccine the green light – but it still has to be reviewed by ANOTHER panel of experts before getting official approval on Thursday
- A panel of scientists from the FDA posted their first analysis of the vaccine online
- That analysis will now be reviewed by a panel of independent scientists
- That will happen on Thursday and if they agree, the vaccine will finally get official approval and be distributed across the US from Dec 15
- 20million doses are expected this year but most won’t come until next summer
- It is down to the Trump administration declining an offer to buy additional doses earlier this year
- The New York Times reports that now, the US may not get most of its doses until June 2021 because of the decision
- The UK started giving out the first vaccinations on Tuesday
FDA scientists say the Pfizer vaccine is effective and have recommended it for approval in the first piece of analysis before it will be officially green-lit.
Documents released by U.S. regulators Tuesday confirmed that Pfizer and BioNTech´s COVID-19 vaccine was strongly protective against COVID-19 — offering the world´s first detailed look at the evidence behind the shots.
The Food and Drug Administration posted its analysis online even as across the Atlantic, Britain on Tuesday began vaccinating its oldest citizens with the Pfizer-BioNTech shots.
An independent panel of experts still has to review it before it can be approved.
The 92-page document will be reviewed on Thursday when the panel of experts convenes
The FDA scientists’ conclusion towards the end of the report that the vaccine meets safety and efficacy standards
The UK approved the vaccine last week and started giving it out today. Above, Margaret Keenan, 90, becomes the first person in the world to receive it. She was given the vaccine on Tuesday morning in Coventry, England
The earliest that will happen is on Thursday and then vaccine roll out won’t begin until December 15 at least, much to the chagrin of US officials and citizens who are watching impatiently while the UK gives out its first vaccines.
Once approved, the US has a reported 100million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer which is enough to inoculate 50million people – around 15 percent of the population.
The New York Times reports that the Trump administration was offered the chance to buy more doses of the vaccine in the summer but that they passed.
Now, Pfizer has entered manufacturing deals with other countries which the Times says could make it more difficult for the US to get all of the vaccines they need.
The Trump administration has called the report ‘false’.
Last week, the FDA was slammed for taking so long to approve the vaccine when it had already been approved in the UK.
Commissioner Steve Hahn defended the process, saying it was the safes and most ‘robust’ of any country in the world.
The first to get the vaccine, once approved, will be nursing home residents and healthcare workers.
Then, it will be down to the states to determine who goes next.
The vaccine is, according to the pharmaceutical firm’s research, 95 percent effective.
It’s still unclear how long protection lasts and some side effects have been reported like mild flu symptoms and headaches.
One nurse who took it said she experienced the highest fever of her life afterwards.
Studies in children as young as 12 are just beginning.