Last Updated on February 26, 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Begins Following Emergency Use Authorization by FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for drugmaker Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine, developed in partnership with German drugmaker BioNTech.

This EUA allows distribution of the vaccine to begin immediately in the United States, and some high-risk health care workers will begin receiving their first shot of the two-dose vaccine this week.

The authorization follows an endorsement from the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), composed of independent doctors, scientists and experts.

“The FDA’s authorization for emergency use of the first COVID-19 vaccine is a significant milestone in battling this devastating pandemic that has affected so many families in the United States and around the world.”

FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D.

COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Prior to the FDA authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, federal officials had planned for 6.4 million doses to be distributed initially, with future shipments following shortly after. As high-risk groups, including health care workers and long-term care residents, begin to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before the end of 2020, it will likely still be months before vaccine distribution reaches the general public.

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