US drugs agency FDA approves Pfizer vaccine

12 Dec US drugs agency FDA approves Pfizer vaccine

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use.

President Donald Trump says the first vaccinations will take place “in less than 24 hours”. The virus has now killed more than 292,000 in the US.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, told reporters earlier on Friday that his department would work with Pfizer to get the mass vaccination programme started by Monday or Tuesday.

The Pfizer vaccine has received regulatory approval in the UK, Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, the US recorded more than 3,000 deaths