US medical experts give nod to authorisation of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

A US government advisory panel has recommended emergency approval for the PfizerBioNTech coronavirus vaccine underlining that the shots potential benefits outweigh its risksAfter an eighthour public hearing on Thursday the Food and Drug Administrations FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee VRBPAC voted 17 to 4 with 1 abstention to recommend the vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTechThere is a clear benefit and all we have on the other side is theoretical risksrdquo said committee member Paul Offit a vaccine expert with the Childrenrsquos Hospital of Philadelphia The vaccines potential benefits outweigh its risks he saidIts a huge milestone said another member Ofer Levy a pediatric infectious disease expert and head of the precision vaccine programme at Boston Childrens HospitalThe drug now needs to be formally approved by the FDA While the FDA is not necessarily mandated to accept the recommendations of the advisory body it is expected to do so next week as the administration gears to ship and provide millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines to Americans across the country with priority being given to the vulnerable populationThe Pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in the UK and CanadaTodayrsquos approval by the Food amp Drug Administration of the PfizerBioNTech COVID19 vaccine is a bright light in a needlessly dark time We are grateful to the scientists and researchers who developed this vaccine And we are grateful to the scientists and public health experts who evaluated the safety and efficacy of this vaccine free from political influence The integrity of science led us to this point Presidentelect Joe Biden said in a statementThe challenge now is to scale up the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccineWe are putting together an experienced team to do just that Before I take office we need the Trump administration to purchase the doses it has negotiated with Pfizer and Moderna and to work swiftly to scale manufacturing for the US population and the world And we will need Congress to fund our distribution efforts Biden saidBiden has vowed to distribute 100 million shots in the first 100 days of his administrationAccording to FDA Commissioner Stephen M Hahn after the VRBPAC meeting FDA career staff will take the committees input into account as they continue their review of the Emergency Use Authorisation EUA request to determine whether it has met the standards for safety and effectiveness as well as refine the instructions for use and the informational materials to be provided to those receiving the vaccineCongressman Fred Upton said the vaccine is essential in the fight to end the COVID19 pandemic and restore a sense of normalcyWhile this is an exciting day as folks await the vaccine everyone should continue to follow the CDC guidelines and wear their masks wash their hands and avoid large crowds to help stop the spread he saidThe Covid19 Tracking Project on Thursday said the US sets records in all three metrics that measure the pandemics severity this week recording a total of 14 million new cases and 15966 deathsYesterday states and territories reported 3088 deaths from COVID19 mdash a record no one wanted to see mdash and the average number of deaths per day this week exceeded 2000 surpassing the highest average we saw in the springrsquos deadly first surge More than 106000 people are currently hospitalised with COVID19 it saidAccording to Johns Hopkins University the deadly virus has infected over 155 million people and claimed more than 292000 lives in the US both the figures highest in the worldA separate group of independent advisors to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention the advisory committee on immunisation practices are scheduled to take a look at the data after FDA authorises the vaccineA second vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health is also seeking emergency approval in the USKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever