The first vaccine against the novel coronavirus approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization is Comirnaty COVID-19 mRNA one produced by Pfizer/BioNTech, the WHO has announced.
WHO grants emergency use validation for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
Photo Credit: AFP
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said that it had issued an emergency use validation for the vaccine against the coronavirus developed by the Pfizer and BioNTech companies, the first one since the start of the pandemic.
Every country that has a drug regulatory agency will have to issue its own approval for any COVID-19 vaccine, but countries with weak systems usually rely on WHO to vet the shots.
The WHO said that the decision to issue its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine.
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“The World Health Organization (WHO) today listed the Comirnaty COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for emergency use, making the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine the first to receive emergency validation from WHO since the outbreak began a year ago,” the statement reads.
“The WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine. It also enables UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries in need.”
Speaking on the development, Mariângela Simão, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said the approval will encourage the development of more vaccines as part of efforts to ensure access and equitable distribution across countries.
Friday, 01 Jan 2021 07:31 AM MYT
A vial of the Pfizer vaccine against the coronavirus disease used at The Reservoir nursing facility is shown in West Hartford, Connecticut December 18, 2020. ― Pool via Reuters
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GENEVA, Jan 1 The World Health Organization yesterday granted emergency validation to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, paving the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve its import and distribution.
Britain launched its inoculation drive with the US-German vaccine on December 8, with the United States, Canada and EU countries following suit.
WHO said the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first to receive its “emergency validation” since the novel coronavirus first broke out in China a year ago.
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