The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday granted emergency approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. As AFP reports, that move paves the way for the planet to quickly accelerate drug’s import and distribution.
The WHO made one of the most important-ever decisions in a year when made the Pfizer-BioNTech drug the first to receive emergency validation since the aggressive pathogen outbreak began, said WHO in a statement.
The first country on the planet that started inoculation was Russia. The huge country preferred to use its own vaccine, while other nations were waiting for the WHO-approved anti-virus drug.
The United Kingdom has launched its inoculation a week after Russia. Britain drove with the US-German vaccine on December 8, with the United States, Canada and EU countries following suit.
“This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines,” said Mariangela Simao, a top WHO official tasked with ensuring access to medicines.
Simao stressed the need for an even greater global effort to achieve enough Pfizer-BioNTech drug supply to meet the needs of priority populations everywhere.
The approval enables UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization to procure the Pfizer vaccine for nations that need it in the first turn.
WHO convened its own experts and those from around the world to review the data on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine’s “safety, efficacy and quality,” weighing the benefits against the risks.
“The review found that the vaccine met the must-have criteria for safety and efficacy set out by WHO, and that the benefits of using the vaccine to address COVID-19 offset potential risks,” it said.
