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An expert panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended emergency approval of the Corona vaccine from German company Biontech and its U.S. partner Pfizer. The panel voted in favor of U.S. approval in a public meeting Thursday, meaning it could now be decided within days.
To be sure, the expert panel’s vote is not binding. But there is every indication that the Biontech vaccine will soon receive emergency approval. The FDA had already declared on Tuesday that it considered the vaccine to be safe and effective. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to begin using the Biontech vaccine in hospitals and nursing homes as early as the beginning of next week.
The vaccine is already approved in the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries. In the EU, testing for emergency approval is underway.
The Biontech vaccine is based on so-called mRNA technology. Unlike conventional vaccines, this does not involve injecting the pathogen or parts of the pathogen, but rather passing on the genetic blueprint of the pathogen so that the body forms the antigen itself and develops an immune response.
In terms of numbers, the U.S. is the most severely affected country in the world by the Corona pandemic. More than 15 million infections with the novel coronavirus have already been detected here, and more than 289,000 infected people have died. The newly elected President Joe Biden, who takes office on January 20, wants to vaccinate 100 million citizens against Corona in the following 100 days.
- hp with reports from k.at. picture:pixabay.com
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