Pfizer will ask for emergency authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine today

After last week’s announcement of a 95% efficiency rate, Pfizer and BioNTech are ready to ask for emergency authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine today.

In a press release, company officials confirmed that the pharmaceutical companies will submit the request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday.

“Filing for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the U.S. is a critical step in making our vaccine candidate available to the global population as quickly as possible,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech.

At a press briefing Wednesday by Vice President Pence and members of the Coronavirus Task Force, an announcement was made that the vaccine will be able to be distributed 24 hours after the EUA approval.

Chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, General Perna, said, “we were going to be able to deliver the vaccine within 24 hours after EUA.  That is distribution to the entire United States of America to include territories and metropolitan cities.”

Once Pfizer and BioNTech file for EUA, the FDA could authorize its vaccine as well as the Moderna vaccine in a matter of weeks.

“I think every American can be proud of the fact that we have a plan in place: that the moment that the FDA concludes that that vaccine is safe and effective, we have a system in place to begin, within 24 hours, shipping that vaccines to hospitals, healthcare facilities, and 24 hours after that, literally injecting that vaccine into Americans,” Pence said.