December 12 coronavirus news

A staff member holds a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination health center in Cardiff, England, on December 8.

The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is not interchangeable with other Covid-19 vaccines, and the safety and efficacy of mixing vaccines has not been evaluated, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Community on Immunization Practices was told during a meeting on Saturday.

People who are vaccinated initially with the Pfizer vaccine should complete the series with that product, CDC’s Dr. Sarah Mbaeyi said during a presentation to the committee.

The CDC noted that both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech are necessary for protection, and the efficacy of a single dose has not been evaluated in a systemic way.

Vaccine maker Moderna has submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of its mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.

Data from clinical trials suggest the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is safe and likely effective in people who were previously infected with the coronavirus, and vaccination should be offered to them, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Community on Immunization Practices was told during a meeting on Saturday.

Diagnostic or antibody testing is not recommended for vaccine decision-making, CDC’s Dr. Sarah Mbaeyi said during a presentation to the committee.

However, people with a current infection should not be vaccinated until a person has recovered, if they had symptoms, and if they’re clear to leave isolation. There’s no recommended minimum period between infection and vaccination, but since it appears reinfection is uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection, vaccination could be delayed until near the end of that period.

People who have a known Covid-19 exposure shouldn’t seek vaccination until their quarantine period has ended, to avoid exposing health care workers and others.

However, residents of long-term care facilities, for example, are already in contact with workers and they can be vaccinated, even if they’ve been exposed.

More info: There’s no safety or efficacy data for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in people who were treated for Covid-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, Mbaeyi said, but vaccination should be deferred for at least 90 days “as a precautionary measure, until additional information becomes available to avoid interference of the treatment with vaccine-induced immune responses.”

An employee handles vials of coronavirus vaccine at the Pfizer manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines are still being packaged before being shipped to states, Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said at a news conference Saturday.

Perna said federal officials and vaccine maker Pfizer were aiming to distribute the vaccine Monday, once the US Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization, which came Friday evening.

Federal health officials have repeatedly promised a coronavirus vaccine would be rolling out within 24 hours of an EUA. 

McKesson is the medical supplies company the federal government has contracted with to help distribute coronavirus vaccines.

“The important part, as I said in my statement, was we want to make sure that the vaccine arrives at a time period where people, the professionals are available to receive it and then eventually administer it. So as a decision (was) made, and I adjusted the sliding scale hourly and daily,” Perna added. “Our ultimate goal was to get it there no later than Monday morning, through distribution. So as I speak today right now, vaccines are being packaged, with a lot of emphasis on the quality assurance. To that end, tomorrow morning vaccines will start rolling from manufacturing to distribution hubs. And then Monday, by Monday, vaccinations will be received.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Community on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Saturday discussed the willingness among nurses to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

The committee discussed a reluctance to get vaccinated among nurses included in focus groups and surveys – especially those from racial or ethnic minority groups.

Others said that they felt confident that nurses will be willing to get vaccinated, especially after receiving public health education.

Some states are planning to vaccinate health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities all together in one group as Covid-19 vaccines arrive at sites, a top Operation Warp Speed official said Saturday. 

It would be a more efficient way to use vaccines that must be stored carefully and used quickly, Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said at a news conference.

Some background: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the very first vaccines should go to frontline health care workers most at risk of catching and transmitting the virus, and to residents of long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, who make up the bulk of those killed in the pandemic so far.

It’s up to states to decide who actually gets vaccines distributed to them. Operation Warp Speed expects to start shipping about 2.9 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine Sunday.

Doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccines will start moving out within 24 hours, Gen. Gus Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said Saturday.

The US Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine Friday evening.

“At the sites, the vaccine will marry up with the ancillary kits that we’ve already distributed. These kits include needles syringes, dilutant and other supplies necessary to administer the shots,” Perna said.

No vaccines were pre-positioned, Perna said.

“We did not want to presume EUA (emergency use authorization),” he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it has cleared pilots to receive the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. 

There is a 48-hour waiting period after each dose of the vaccine before a pilot may resume duties.   

Until now, the FAA has required that vaccines and medications be approved for use by medical certificate holders. 

Earlier this week: The FAA told CNN it would quickly review the safety of each coronavirus vaccine following FAA authorization.   

This does not mean that pilots are actively in line to receive the vaccine imminently. Industry organizations and unions this week urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to put airline workers on priority lists for vaccination. 

A virtual meeting of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Community on Immunization Practices has begun.

During the meeting, ACIP members will discuss the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine and there will be a public comment period.

The agenda says the group will vote on whether to recommend the vaccine at 2:30 p.m. ET. 

Pfizer manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Pfizer has told reporters covering its rollout that it expects the first shipments of its Covid-19 vaccine to leave the Michigan facility Sunday morning.

The company originally predicted trucks rolling “within 24 hours” of Food and Drug Administration authorization.

The company did not provide an explanation for the later timeline.

The US Food and Drug Administration says the potential benefits of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine outweigh the risks for 16- and 17-year-olds, Dr. Peter Marks, director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said during a news briefing on Saturday.

FDA has a long history of evaluating pediatric vaccines and extrapolating data from adults to children, he said.

Although teens rarely become seriously ill from Covid-19, Marks acknowledged some do become very sick and die. And, teens are able to transmit the virus “quite easily” – even if they’re asymptomatic.

“Since some of those 16- and 17-year-olds, at least that I know of, are out there as checkout people, or interacting with communities, it may be wise that we are able to vaccinate them,” Marks said. “So we think the known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks.”

It will take a few months before it’s clear how the vaccine impacts transmission of the virus, Marks said.

On pregnant women: Decisions about whether pregnant women should take Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine should be considered on an individual basis, Marks said. 

“Covid-19 in a pregnant woman is not a good thing, so someone might decide that they would like to be vaccinated, but that’s not something that we’re recommending at this time. That’s something we’re leaving up to the individual,” Marks said.

Marks said that the clinical trials of the vaccine, which did not enroll pregnant women but included women who became pregnant during the trials, did not yield enough data to make a determination for that population.

“For pregnant women and the immunocompromised – just at this point – it will be something that providers will need to consider on an individual basis for patients,” said Marks.

The benefits of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine outweigh its risks, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said Saturday.

Hahn said the FDA has been transparent about the data.

“We’ve also posted important information to help healthcare providers understand the benefits, risks and proper use of this FDA authorized vaccine,” Hahn said. 

CNN health reporter breaks down FDA’s comments: 

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The room where coronavirus vaccines will be kept in super-cold storage at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said during a news briefing on Saturday that FDA is “pretty convinced” the extreme cold conditions required for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can be maintained, based on planning and past experience.

Some background: The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine needs to be stored at about minus 75 degrees Celsius – far colder than any vaccine currently used in the United States.

The vaccines are using specially designed shippers with dry ice, and they can remain refrigerated for a few days once thawed.

FDA made clear in the labeling how the vaccine will need to be handled, Marks said, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Operation Warp Speed “are making sure that things are in place to make sure that the cold chain is maintained.” 

FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn speaks during a news conference on Saturday, December 12.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said that the organization “is very concerned about vaccine hesitancy.”

The FDA has addressed the hesitancy, Hahn said, by being transparent about the science behind Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine and the process for authorizing it.

Hahn said that the FDA believes in “transparency” and “the rigorous scientific review that we’ve done.”

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US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn denied on Saturday that political pressure led to a quicker than normal decision to issue emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine.

The FDA issued the EUA Friday evening, a day after its Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted to recommend the authorization. But as the FDA considered the vote, Hahn was summoned to the White House.

The FDA said it reviewed not just Pfizer and BioNTech’s summary of their clinical trial involving around 40,000 volunteers, but went through to original source data. It showed the vaccine was safe and provided 95% protection.

“Our incredible team, heroic efforts, night and day worked to get this out the door,” Hahn said. “As Dr. Marks said, thousands of people are dying a day.”

Hear FDA commissioner’s answer when asked about political pressure: 

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Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, discusses the agency’s decision to grant emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine during a news conference on Saturday, December 12.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said during a news briefing on Saturday that there’s “been a lot of noise” about the protection provided by one dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine and whether that could help extend the vaccine supply.

The FDA’s stance is that people should take two doses. 

Marks added: “So at least from the FDA perspective, we would be recommending that people complete the two-dose series so we actually know that they’re truly protected at the rate of approximately 95% of efficacy.”

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Months of planning culminate this weekend with the first deliveries of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses – and the UPS executive overseeing his company’s efforts says it is an emotional experience.  

Wheeler said the process that soon gets underway at the Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, will be highly choreographed. 

“We have people embedded at the Pfizer location in Michigan, and they will be helping Pfizer to dispatch packages,” he explained. “They will be loaded onto a trailer, a dedicated trailer, with an escort. They will drive five hours to Louisville, Kentucky, and then there’ll be dispatched around to the states that we’re assigned.”

In Louisville, many of the shipments will be loaded onto UPS planes. Wheeler said the company’s extensive delivery network means it can ship doses overnight for delivery by 10:30 the next morning. UPS is handling delivery to sites on the Eastern side of the U.S. 

The company is also creating 24,000 pounds of dry ice daily that are packed into special Pfizer containers to keep the vaccine at the required sub-zero temperature. 

“The day after the vaccines arrive, we deliver 40 pounds of dry ice to replenish what is sublimating from the box,” Wheeler said. “The Pfizer package is good for 10 days with it with the 50 pounds of dry ice in it. And with the 40 pounds that we send the following day. It’ll give you another several days if necessary so the box becomes the storage medium at the dosing center.”

More details: Tracking devices on each container and truck send real-time information back to the UPS command center in Louisville. 

The tracking tags have four radios and a Bluetooth device that transmit data including GPS location, “atmospheric pressure, motion detection, light detection, and of course temperature,” he said. That data gives the company insight into the condition of each package and the dry ice inside of it. 

“We have eyes on these shipments all the way from origin to the final dosing destination,” he explained.   

Now that the Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine has been authorized in the US, clinical trial participants can find out whether they received the vaccine or placebo, Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said during a virtual news conference on Saturday morning. 

“We have to balance the amount of blinded data that we received with the need to protect people,” Marks said.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn speaks during a news conference on Saturday, December 12.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization for Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine was based on science and data, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said during a virtual news conference on Saturday morning.

Hahn added that efficiency does not mean the cutting of corners while review teams continue to comb through data.

More context: The US government is now working to distribute Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, after the FDA authorized it for emergency use on Friday, Hahn said.

“With this authorization, we know that our federal partners are already moving to distribute the first doses of the vaccine throughout the country,” Hahn said.

Hahn said the authorization is a significant milestone for families battling the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and around the world.

“While this year has been marked by tragedy, sadness and sacrifice, it is also a year that has generated unparalleled scientific achievement that will resonate for many future generations,” he added.

Hear FDA commissioner’s remarks: 

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The US Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to hold a press conference on the first Covid-19 vaccine authorization at 9 a.m. ET.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Dr. Peter Marks will be taking questions.

BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin speaks with CNN in an exclusive interview.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization of Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine is a crucial step in developing the new-generation vaccine, BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said.

The FDA authorized the vaccine late Friday night after its advisers recommended the go-ahead. The US follows several other countries in authorizing the vaccine, including Britain, which has already immunized at least 2,000 people.

The EUA was fast by US regulatory standards – especially for a vaccine using new technology.

How does it work? BioNTech’s vaccine uses messenger RNA, genetic material that codes for a piece of the virus’s spike protein – the outside hook that attaches to the cells the virus attacks. This mRNA prompts the human body to produce little pieces of the protein, and then produce an immune response against it.

Clinical trials in more than 40,000 people showed it was 95% effective in preventing symptomatic disease.

Pfizer has only been able to produce a few million doses for the US so far, so it will not immediately affect the pandemic, Sahin said. But after more people get vaccinated, the effects will kick in, he predicted.

Read the exclusive story here.

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Things were looking up for Jason Zenga in late 2019 and in early 2020.

The personal trainer worked out of a gym based in Santa Monica, California, where he taught classes twice a week. He also worked as an independent corporate trainer through a partnership with his friend, where they’d go to offices and train employees at companies across Los Angeles.

But business began to dry up in March, as local and federal governments began implementing stricter policies to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. All of a sudden, the gym that employed Zenga closed. There were no offices to go to train employees at, and Zenga could only train the last few of his clients virtually. He had to apply for unemployment benefits.

“All the uncertainty was frustrating,” Zenga told CNN.

Meanwhile, across the country, Atlanta-based trainer Bria Young found her business booming during the pandemic. When gyms began to close, Young transitioned to packaging workouts into online digital programs on her website, and began selling them.

“It completely flip-flopped, I didn’t even need to go back to in-person training,” Young told CNN. “I was able to find a new passion during this pandemic.”

There’s no question that the fitness industry has been upended by the pandemic – and for some trainers like Zenga, the last 10 months have proved to be financially devastating.

For others, like Young, the pandemic has turned into a fruitful opportunity to pivot to virtual full time.

Read the full story:

Related article Covid-19 took the personal out of personal training. Here's how trainers adapted

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun speaks during an emergency meeting on Covid-19 response in Seoul, South Korea on December 12.

If the current trend in rising coronavirus cases continues, then raising the social distancing measure to the highest level would be unavoidable, South Korean Prime Minister, Chung Sye-kyun warned on Saturday.

He posted the warning on his verified Facebook account as he held an emergency meeting to discuss surging coronavirus cases on Saturday.

A raise in the alert level would mean a ban on gathering of more than 10 people, work from home for all non-essential employees and a shift to online for all schools and church services.

South Korea was widely praised as a Covid-19 success story, and initially managed to keep the pandemic largely under control.

But the nation reported 950 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, marking the highest jump in single day cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Seoul Metropolitan Area accounts for the majority of the total with a record 669 new cases.

Currently the national alert level in South Korea is under Level 2 which is the third highest level. It’s higher for the Seoul Metropolitan Area – at under 2.5 – the second highest level.

Alert levels in South Korea range from 1, which denotes the least concerning situation, to 3 signifying the situation requires toughest measure. Each time the alert level is raised it goes up by 0.5.

“A very serious situation:” South Korean President, Moon Jae-in also warned that the surge in Covid-19 cases presents a “very serious situation.”

“In fact, we cannot but say that it’s an emergency situation,” he said on Saturday via a post on his verified Facebook and Twitter account.

In a press briefing on Saturday, KDCA official, Im Suk-yeong said 90 new coronavirus cases were found in a religious facility in the Western district of Seoul and 66 new cases were found in a nursing hospital in outskirts of Seoul.

An additional 14 cases were discovered while investigating a cluster originating in a restaurant in central Seoul, bringing the total cases linked to the restaurant to 230, she added.

Testing centers boost: In a bid to get a jump on the rising cases, 150 testing stations will be installed around Greater Seoul’s high risk areas.

These will come online on December 14 and operate for three weeks, Im added.

The testing will be conducted anonymously to encourage public participation.

Im also said 810 government workers, including members of the military, police have been deployed to aid epidemiological investigation. 480 more workers will join the effort in the future.

Despite the stricter social distancing measures that came into effect on December 5 in the capital city of Seoul, movement of people has not reduced sufficiently, Im added.

Im warned the current trend will likely continue for a week before showing the result of the increased social distancing measures.

A health care worker comforts a patient in the Covid-19 ward at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas on December 4.

Trucks and planes loaded with Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine will soon be departing from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to hospitals around the country, following the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization (EUA).

“We need to take a moment, I think, and just consider that we are having this mass casualty event every day here in the US, but now we have this vaccine developed in record time that can in time really save us and save our country and save the world from this awful pandemic,” emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen told CNN’s Chris Cuomo moments after the authorization.

“This is really a monumental moment for us,” she added.

US grapples with highest cases and deaths: The news comes during the most difficult weeks the US has faced since the pandemic’s start. Friday saw the highest number of new cases, hospitalizations and daily deaths since the pandemic’s start. More than 3,300 American deaths were reported.

There are just two key steps left before vaccinations can start: a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee – scheduled to meet Saturday morning – must vote to recommend the vaccine and the agency must then accept that recommendation.

Then, vaccinations can begin.

Brutal months ahead: But it’ll be months before most Americans will get a vaccine.

Last week, vaccine advisers to the CDC voted to recommend that both health care workers and long-term care facility residents be first in line for Covid-19 vaccines that get the green light from the FDA. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has said about 20 million Americans should be vaccinated by the end of the month, 50 million by the end of January and at least 100 million people should be vaccinated by the end of the first quarter.

Officials “remain confident,” he added, that there will be enough doses for any American who wants to get vaccinated by summertime.

In the meantime, the US – already ravaged by a rampant spread of the virus – is projected to face brutal days ahead.

Read the full story here.

A health care worker collects a swab sample at a drive-thru coronavirus testing center at Fujimino Emergency Hospital in Miyoshi-machi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, on December 9.

Japan reported 2,790 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, the country’s Ministry of Health said Saturday – its third-highest single-day surge since the pandemic began.

The nation’s capital, Tokyo, accounted for 595 new coronavirus cases, the second-highest single-day surge for the city yet.

The biggest jump was on December 10, when Tokyo logged 602 new cases. 

Japan’s second-biggest prefecture, Osaka, confirmed 357 new coronavirus cases, its third consecutive day of infections above the 300 mark.

Overall, the national coronavirus case tally stands at 175,011 confirmed infections, of which 174,299 are reported on land and 712 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. 

Japan’s coronavirus death toll also increased by 32 on Friday, the ministry said, taking the overall tally to 2,547.

A test specialist works at a Covid-19 testing site in Los Angeles, California on December 9.

The US reported record-high numbers of fresh Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the Covid Tracking Project (CTP).

On Friday, 231,775 new confirmed Covid-19 cases were reported nationwide, according to JHU.

In addition, there were 3,309 more related deaths – a record since the pandemic began. 

The US also hit a record number of Covid-19 hospitalizations with 108,044 reported by the CTP.

According to JHU data, the top five days for new US cases were all in December:

Mexico’s Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS) announced Friday it has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López Gatell, who is leading the country’s Covid-19 response, told reporters the announcement is “cause for hope … It is good news.”

The 24-member COFEPRIS committee voted unanimously to approve the EUA.

Mexico announced part of its vaccination distribution plan – which calls for prioritizing the country’s health care workers – earlier this week.

A total of 250,000 doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in Mexico before the end of the month. An additional 15 million doses are expected to arrive by April.

Mexico’s government recently announced it had signed an agreement to secure 34.4 million doses of Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.

Containers to be used as a ward to treat people infected with the coronavirus are set up on the grounds of the Seoul Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, December 10.

South Korea reported 950 new coronavirus cases on Saturday – the most infections in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said in a press release.

Of those, 928 confirmed cases are local infections, while 22 are imported. 

The Seoul Metropolitan Area accounts for the majority of the total with a record 669 new cases, the KDCA said.

Meanwhile, three more cases have been linked to the church cluster in Daegu city, according to the local government’s press release on Saturday.

There have now been 32 cases linked to the church cluster, where contact tracers said members of the choir didn’t wear masks and parishioners shared snacks.

Earlier this year, the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji religious group became one of the country’s biggest single clusters, linked to more than 5,200 cases.

The country has recorded 41,736 cases in total so far.

South Korea’s related death toll also increased by six on Saturday, bringing total fatalities to 578.

The US Food and Drug Administration will hold a news conference at 9 a.m. ET Saturday with Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, to discuss the agency’s decision to grant emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine.

“FDA Commissioner @SteveFDA and @FDACBER Director Dr. Peter Marks will be taking questions,” the agency said on its Twitter account. The news conference will be livestreamed on Twitter, the FDA said.

CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is “really a monumental moment,” Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst and emergency room physician, said Friday. 

“I think it’s really amazing,” Wen, the former Baltimore health commissioner, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.

“We also need to make sure that every safeguard was followed, and that’s what all these scientists and all these committees are here to do,” she added.

FDA vaccine advisers met Thursday and voted to recommend an EUA for the vaccine. Now the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet Saturday. 

The CDC committee must vote to recommend the vaccine, and the agency must accept that recommendation, in order for vaccinations to begin.

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting will now begin at 11 a.m. ET Saturday, according to an update on the CDC’s website.

The meeting was previously scheduled for Sunday.

Following the US Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization of Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, the CDC committee must vote to recommend it. The CDC must then accept that recommendation for vaccinations to begin.

The vote is expected to take place about 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

Stephen Hahn testifies at a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on September 23, in Washington D.C.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is a “significant milestone” in fighting a pandemic that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said Friday.

“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,” Hahn said in a statement.

The emergency use authorization allows the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to be distributed in the US, the FDA said in a news release.

It’s not an FDA approval, but the EUA “holds the promise to alter the course of this pandemic in the United States,” Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.

“With science guiding our decision-making, the available safety and effectiveness data support the authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine because the vaccine’s known and potential benefits clearly outweigh its known and potential risks,” Marks said.

A member of staff uses a needle and a vial of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to prepare a dose at a vaccination health center on December 8, in Cardiff, UK.

The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use.

A Pfizer spokesperson confirmed to CNN on Friday that an EUA had been granted, following the recommendation of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.

On Thursday, 17 committee members voted to recommend the FDA issue an EUA for the vaccine. Four voted no and one abstained.

Dr. Gupta discusses:

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Florida health system Orlando Health says it will begin vaccinating its employees against Covid-19 on December 18. 

Orlando Health said vaccinations will be administered at Orlando Regional Medical Center and will continue on December 21-23. 

The first round of vaccinations will go to those at highest risk for Covid-19.

Residents of Orlando Health’s long-term care facilities will be among the first to receive vaccines.

The system’s chief medical officer, Dr. George Ralls, said that after Moderna’s vaccine is available, Orlando Health expects to be able to vaccinate its entire workforce.

FAA chief Steve Dickson answers questions about his test flight of a Boeing 737 MAX during a press conference after landing at Boeing Field on September 30, in Seattle.

The US Federal Aviation Administration is urging airports nationwide to be ready for flights carrying the coronavirus vaccine even if the airport is not scheduled to receive it.  

The agency told airports “to ensure they are fully prepared for aircraft carrying Covid-19 vaccines.”

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson directed airports to ensure delivery trucks have priority access to the airfield, and that adequate security is in place for vaccine shipments.

On Thursday, the FAA told CNN it would direct air traffic controllers to give priority clearance to flights carrying the vaccine. The agency said the flights will be monitored from its command center in Warrenton, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C.