A US Food and Drug Administration external panel endorsed the authorization of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The formal recommendation took place following a meeting between outside experts and the FDA on the vaccine.
“Shots could begin within days, depending on how quickly the Food and Drug Administration signs off, as expected, on the expert committee’s recommendation,” according to The AP.
The FDA is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use within days, according to The New York Times.
The recommendation comes one day after the US reported over 3,000 fatalities in a single day, breaking its daily record for COVID-19 deaths.
A report released on Tuesday by the FDA found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be safe and effective.
On Wednesday, a British regulatory agency said that people with a history of severe allergies should not take the Pfizer vaccine.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn addressed the UK warning on Thursday.
“This is why we do a very careful review of the clinical trial data,” Hahn said. “We put in our label, around a vaccine or a medical product, who should receive the vaccine… we study the data very carefully to say who should not receive the vaccine.”
