US govt endorses Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine

The government of the United States of America has endorsed the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine as the country gears up for massive inoculation to stem the spread of the virus.

The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine endorsement was issued on Thursday by the US government advisory panel thus paving the way for the vaccine’s final approval for eventual distribution across the country.

Before the endorsement of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, a panel of outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted 17-4 in favour of the vaccine, with one abstention, deciding that its benefits outweigh any risks for use by individuals.

“Americans want us to do a scientific review, but I think they also want us to make sure we’re not wasting time on paperwork as opposed to going forward with the decision,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said before the meeting.

This came after Ripples Nigeria had reported that the United Kingdom’s medicine regulator has warned that people with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should not risk taking a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

This was revealed in a statement issued by June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), thus expanding his guidance on an earlier allergy warning about the Covid-19 vaccine.

Anaphylaxis is an abnormal sensitivity to proteins.