https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/02/b...ZcCv0b6f44
"The United Kingdom on Wednesday became the first country to clear a COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, allowing Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, to start providing their experimental vaccine to people most at risk for catching the virus or becoming severely ill.
The decision by Britain’s drug regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, means the companies can immediately start supplying 40 million doses ― enough for 20 million people, since the vaccine requires two shots injected three weeks apart. Vaccinations are expected to start next week, the agency said, and will target the elderly, health care workers, and “the clinically extremely vulnerable.”
“Help is on its way,” Matt Hancock, Britain’s secretary of state for health and social care, tweeted Wednesday.
Britain’s swift action is likely to intensify pressure on the US Food and Drug Administration, which has set a Dec. 10 advisory committee meeting to consider a similar move in the United States. The Trump administration has provided more than $12 billion through the Operation Warp Speed program to hasten development of coronavirus vaccines. During the presidential campaign, President Trump repeatedly pledged a vaccine by Election Day, prompting critics to say he was politicizing the effort."
"The United Kingdom on Wednesday became the first country to clear a COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, allowing Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, to start providing their experimental vaccine to people most at risk for catching the virus or becoming severely ill.
The decision by Britain’s drug regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, means the companies can immediately start supplying 40 million doses ― enough for 20 million people, since the vaccine requires two shots injected three weeks apart. Vaccinations are expected to start next week, the agency said, and will target the elderly, health care workers, and “the clinically extremely vulnerable.”
“Help is on its way,” Matt Hancock, Britain’s secretary of state for health and social care, tweeted Wednesday.
Britain’s swift action is likely to intensify pressure on the US Food and Drug Administration, which has set a Dec. 10 advisory committee meeting to consider a similar move in the United States. The Trump administration has provided more than $12 billion through the Operation Warp Speed program to hasten development of coronavirus vaccines. During the presidential campaign, President Trump repeatedly pledged a vaccine by Election Day, prompting critics to say he was politicizing the effort."