Dec. 31, 2020
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.
The world health body announced the emergency approval on Thursday, as 2020 came to a close. Its Emergency Use Listing (EUL) will enable countries to expedite their own regulatory approval of the vaccine, and allow UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization to buy it for distribution, the WHO said.
The Pfizer/BioNTech #COVID19 vaccine today became the first vaccine to receive WHO validation for emergency use since the outbreak began.
Equitable global access to vaccines is crucial to combat the pandemic.
đ https://t.co/7WNcHhc3z8 pic.twitter.com/Kyjv5RNzjB
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 31, 2020
âThis is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to [Covid]-19 vaccines,â Dr Mariângela SimĂŁo, WHOâs assistant-Director General for access to medicines and health products, said in a statement. She added that âan even greater global effortâ is needed to come up with enough of a supply to meet the needs of âpriority populations everywhere,â however.
The WHO is âworking night and day to evaluate other vaccines that have reached safety and efficacy standards,â said SimĂŁo, urging other developers to âcome forward for review and assessment.â
The first vaccine against Covid-19 in the world was actually registered by Russia, which had requested EUL from the WHO in late October for its Sputnik-V jab. That certification is still pending.
Pfizerâs vaccine was the first to be approved for emergency use in the US, on December 11. Modernaâs vaccine followed a week later.
Published at www.rt.com