WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine could start being distributed in the United States “soon after” a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meets on Dec. 10 to consider the company’s application for emergency use authorization (EUA) of the vaccine, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will make a recommendation, but the final decision will be made by FDA officials, CBS News reported.
“While we cannot predict how long the FDA’s review will take, the FDA will review the request as expeditiously as possible, while still doing so in a thorough and science-based manner, so that we can help make available a vaccine that the American people deserve as soon as possible,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, M.D., said in a statement.
The vaccine appears 95 percent effective at preventing mild-to-severe COVID-19, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said on Nov. 18. The EUA request was submitted days later, CBS News reported.
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