U.K. to roll out coronavirus vaccine this week

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock dubbed Tuesday “V-Day” in the fight against the pandemic, harkening back to the final days of World War II. This time, the V stands for “vaccine,” instead of “victory.” The country authorized widespread use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine and 90-year-old Margaret Keenan received the first dose today. The vaccine will go to nursing home workers and older people first—most will have to wait until after the new year to get the shot.

What about in the United States? A federal panel is meeting this week to decide whether to give the greenlight to Pfizer’s vaccine. Moderna’s meeting is scheduled for next week. States have already drafted rollout plans describing who is first in line to get the vaccine so distribution can begin as quickly as possible after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says “go.”

Dig deeper: Read Leah Hickman’s explainer about the various ethical questions associated with each COVID-19 vaccine.

Editor's note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.