UK authorizes Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for emergency use; US adviser hopes for approval soon
British officials authorized a COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Wednesday, greenlighting the world’s first shot against the virus that’s backed by rigorous science and taking a major step toward eventually ending the pandemic.
The go-ahead for the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech comes as the virus surges again in the United States and Europe, putting pressure on hospitals and morgues in some places and forcing new rounds of restrictions that have devastated economies.
A leader of the Trump administration’s effort to produce and distribute a coronavirus vaccine says he expects the Food and Drug Administration to soon authorize the use of a vaccine.
Operation Warp Speed chief science adviser Moncef Slaoui says he hopes by Dec. 10 or 11, a Pfizer vaccine is approved in the U.S.
Here’s an update on all developments. Scroll or swipe further for in-depth coverage.
- Nearly 37,000 Americans died of COVID-19 in November, the most in any month since the dark early days of the pandemic, engulfing families in grief, filling newspaper obituary pages and testing the capacity of morgues, funeral homes and hospitals.
- There were 2,597 new deaths reported across the US, bringing the total death toll to 270,642 in a pandemic that has infected more than 13.7 million people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The only day to top it was April 15, when six more deaths were recorded.
- The White House coronavirus task force issued extremely dire warnings to states in weekly reports this week, urging public health officials to circumvent state and local policies amid record high cases, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as fears of a surge upon a surge following Thanksgiving.
- As millions of European citizens gear up for the festive season, the European Union’s executive commission urged member countries to keep strong anti-COVID 19 restrictions in place to avoid a post-holiday surge of coronavirus cases and deaths but stopped short of advising against travel.
- Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said he’s largely sticking with a partisan, scaled-back COVID-19 relief bill that has already failed twice this fall, even as Democratic leaders and a bipartisan group of moderates offered concessions in hopes of passing pandemic aid before Congress adjourns for the year.
- Health care workers and nursing home residents should be at the front of the line when the first coronavirus vaccine shots become available, an influential government advisory panel said Tuesday.
- The first day of NBA training camp is supposed to be accompanied by brimming optimism, a time for players and coaches all taking those first steps toward what they hope is a championship. It was tempered this year.
For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for virus-impacted Christmas scenes in Europe, plus the latest virus numbers.
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Photos: Pandemic calls off cherished tradition in Europe … Christmas markets
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