WHO approves emergency use of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

(Patria) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The WHO's Emergency Use Listing (EUL) opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes for importing and administering the vaccine. It also enables UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries in need.

Exactly one year after Chinese authorities informed the WHO about the spread of a then-unknown virus in Wuhan, the organization announced that it has approved the use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by the partner American and German companies.

Deputy Director-General for Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals, Mariangela Simao, emphasized that the approval is a major step forward in ensuring global access to the anti-COVID vaccine. Stressing that vaccines should be equally accessible to all countries, Simao said that the WHO is also closely working on analyzing other anti-COVID vaccines developed in recent months.

The review determined that the vaccine meets the necessary safety and efficacy criteria set by the WHO, and that the benefits of using the vaccine to address the COVID-19 problem outweigh the potential risks.

The US, the European Union, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan have already begun mass vaccinations with Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, and the company has announced that it will produce 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine during 2021.