U.S. panel OKs Pfizer’s coronavirus shot

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A tester wears personal protective equipment as she speaks to a patient at a mobile testing location for COVID-19 in Auburn, Maine. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

U.S. panel OKs Pfizer’s coronavirus shot

A group of independent advisers voted 17-4, with one abstention, to endorse the first U.S. coronavirus vaccine on Thursday. The panel said the shot from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech appears safe and effective for people age 16 and up.

How soon will it be available? Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration still have to sign off on the emergency use authorization. But the vote brings the vaccine one step away from a green light and makes approval all the more likely. Immunizations of high-risk groups could begin within days, depending on how quickly the FDA acts on the committee’s recommendation.

Dig deeper: Read Katie Gaultney’s report on the surge of COVID-19 cases in the Midwest.

Lynde Langdon

Lynde is WORLD’s executive editor for news. She is a graduate of World Journalism Institute, the Missouri School of Journalism, and the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Lynde resides with her family in Wichita, Kan.

@lmlangdon