WHO Clears Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus Vaccine for Emergency Use

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WHO clears Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use The World Health Organization says it has cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use

The World Health Organization says it has cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, meaning poorer countries may soon get access to the shot already available in Europe and North America.

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 global body said late Thursday 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.”

The UN health agency said its review found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has already received clearance in the United States, Britain, the European Union and a dozen other countries, “met the must-have criteria for safety and efficacy set out by WHO.” The BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine has to be stored at ultra-frozen temperatures, a big hurdle for developing countries where the required freezers and reliable electricity supply may not be available…