Experts are putting a lot of faith in the COVID-19 vaccines, although many people still choose to remain sceptical. Both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for the pandemic virus received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, and a total of over 2.8 million Americans already got vaccinated.
TheHill.com brings the great news that the World Health Organization (WHO) listed the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use, marking the first time the organization approves a COVID-19 vaccine. With such an achievement, obtaining and distributing the vaccine to many countries that need it will be easier. Mariângela Simão, the WHO’s assistant director general, declares:
This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines,
But I want to emphasize the need for an even greater global effort to achieve enough vaccine supply to meet the needs of priority populations everywhere.
The vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech was administered to at-risk individuals and health care workers from the US.
The US still struggles with horrifying numbers
Despite the rollout of the vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, the numbers of infections and deaths caused by COVID-19 in the US still remain very high. While there’s no reason to believe that the vaccines aren’t effective, the US reported over 228,000 infections and 3,400 deaths caused by the pandemic yesterday, December 31. As for the overall numbers, the country counts almost 20.5 million infections and more than 355,000 deaths.
The FDA reviewed the vaccine from Pfizer very fast, and the commissioner Stephen Hahn himself congratulated the agency for the achievement. Hahn declared the following:
While this year has been marked by tragedy, sadness, sacrifice, it is also a year that has generated unparalleled scientific achievement that will resonate for many future generations.
He also said:
We worked quickly based on the urgency of this pandemic, not because of any other external pressure.
In the near future, we can also expect other COVID-19 vaccines from other manufacturers to be approved.
