US gives full approval to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

More than 200 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the US, and hundreds of millions more worldwide, since December.

The US health regulator on Monday gave full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, a key milestone for public health that can instill further confidence in consumers and also spur authorities to make vaccinations mandatory. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had earlier in December 2020 given emergency use authorisation (EAU) for the vaccine, developed by US-based Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. More than 200 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the US, and hundreds of millions more worldwide, since December. "Today the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older," the US health regulator said in a statement.