US gives final nod to emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
US gives final nod to emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
Washington, December 12 : The US has given a final nod for the emergency use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for its use in the country worst-hit by the pandemic, with the first dose set to be administered in less than 24 hours. “Today our nation has achieved a medical miracle. We have delivered a safe and effective medicine in just nine months,” US President Donald Trump said in a video soon after the FDA approval. The US is the first nation in the world to produce a verifiably safe and effective vaccine. Today’s achievement is a reminder of America’s unlimited potential, Trump said, adding that it would be provided free to Americans. In making this determination, the FDA can assure the public and medical community that it has conducted a thorough evaluation of the available safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality information, it said. FDA said the vaccine contains messenger RNA (mRNA), which is genetic material. The vaccine contains a small piece of the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s mRNA that instructs cells in the body to make the virus’s distinctive “spike” protein.When a person receives this vaccine, their body produces copies of the spike protein, which does not cause disease, but triggers the immune system to learn to react defensively, producing an immune response against SARS-CoV-2, it said.The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in the UK, Canada, Mexico, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Pfizer and Moderna have announced their vaccine is approximately 95 per cent effective, far exceeding expectations. These vaccines are also very safe, said Donald Trump. He also said, “The pandemic may have begun in China, but we are ending it right here in America”.
By: R News India 24