FDA grants full approval for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine
CBSN
The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday that it had granted full approval to Pfizer and BioNTech for their COVID-19 vaccine to be given to Americans as young as 16, clearing the way for a wave of moves that health officials say could reverse a nationwide slowdown in the pace of first doses.
The approval caps a months-long "sprint" by the FDA to clear the shot's final remaining regulatory hurdles in record time, scrutinizing reams of the company's latest safety data and conducting inspections at Pfizer's vaccine factories around the world. "While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated. Today's milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S." said the FDA's Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement.Two climbers were waiting to be rescued near the peak of Denali, a colossal mountain that towers over miles of vast tundra in southern Alaska, officials said Wednesday. Originally part of a three-person team that became stranded near the top of the mountain, the climbers put out a distress call more than 30 hours earlier suggesting they were hypothermic and unable to descend on their own, according to the National Park Service.
There's no making up for what Olympic hurdler Lashinda Demus lost on the day she finished .07 seconds behind a Russian opponent who, everyone later learned, was doping. What the American 400-meter hurdles champion will finally receive is a great day under the Eiffel Tower where she'll be presented with the gold medal she was denied 12 years ago at the London Olympics.