WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said the US will start administering the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine “in less than 24 hours,” after the Food and Drug Administration granted it an emergency use authorisation late yesterday.
“The first vaccine will be administered in less than 24 hours,” Trump said in a televised address released on Twitter.
“Through our partnership with FedEx and UPS, we have already begun shipping the vaccine to every state and zip code in the country,” he said, adding that governors would decide who would receive the shots first in their states.
“We want our senior citizens, healthcare workers and first responders to be first in line”, said Trump.
“This will quickly and dramatically reduce deaths and hospitalisations.”
The US Food and Drug Adminstration ysterday granted the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine an emergency use authorisation, paving the way for its imminent roll-out across the country.
“I am authorising the emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid‑19 Vaccine for the prevention of Covid-19,” Denise Hinton, the agency's chief scientist wrote in a letter to a Pfizer executive. – AFP, December 12, 2020
