Coronavirus digest: BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine endorsed by US panel for emergency use

An FDA expert panel has said the BioNTech-Pfizer is safe and effective for emergency use. The decision is a major step towards starting massvaccination in the US. Follow the latest on DW.

An expert panel convened by USFood and Drug Administration ( FDA) on Thursday recommended emergency approval of the BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, which is the first move towards a mass-vaccination campaign in the US.

The non-binding 17-4 vote concluded that the vaccine developed by German biotech company BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer is effective safe for use in adults. The independent, non-government, panel of experts in vaccine development, infectious diseases and medical statistics was asked specifically if the benefits of the vaccine "outweigh" the risks for use in individuals aged 16 and older.

The FDA must now give final authorization, which will be decided by FDA scientists, and is expected in the next few days. If the vaccine is approved, the rollout of shots could begin as early as next week, US health secretary Alex Azar said Wednesday. The first US inoculations against coronavirus are expected to be reserved primarily for health care workers and nursing home residents.

In July, the US agreed to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer. As it is a two-dose regimen, that initial amount would cover 50 million people.

"We will have 20 million people vaccinated by the end of this month," Azar told PBS news Wednesday.

The expert endorsement comes as questions over the vaccine's safety were raised following allergic reactions in two people who received the vaccine earlier this week in the United Kingdom, which was the first country to begin administering the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine.

DW has an overview of the latest major developments around the world:

Europe

Germany surpassed 20,000 deaths on Thursday, while the number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by a record 23,679 to 1,242,203, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases. The previous record number of cases was reached on November 20, with 23,648 reported cases.

The reported death toll also rose by 440, bringing the total number of fatalities to 20,372 since the start of the pandemic. The previous day, a record of 590 deaths was reported. The rising number of cases and deaths comes as Germany remains under a partial lockdown, which has not substantially reduced the number of new infections.

Chancellor Angela Merkel pleaded with Germans in a speech on Wednesday to reduce contacts and take additional precautions. "If we now, just before Christmas, have too many contacts and this ends up being the last Christmas with the grandparents, then we will have failed in a sense. We should not do this," she said.

Vaccine rollouts in the US will begin following final FDA authorization