December 31, 2020, the World Health Organization announced on December 31, 2020 that it would issue its first emergency use certification of the novel coronavirus vaccine to the vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and the German Biotechnology Company, but pointed out that the vaccine needs to be under ultra-low temperature conditions. Storage will bring challenges to deployment.
WHO said that regulatory experts and WHO teams from all over the world convened by it have comprehensively reviewed the safety, efficacy and quality data of the vaccine and believe that it meets the safety and efficacy standards set by WHO, and that the benefits of using the vaccine to respond to the novel coronavirus epidemic are enough to offset the potential. At risk.
“This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to a vaccine against COVID-19,” said Mariangella Simão, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Sanitary Products.
But she also stressed: “A greater global effort is needed to achieve sufficient vaccine supply to meet the needs of key populations around the world.”
The WHO Advisory Expert Group on Immunization Strategy will meet on 5 January 2021 to develop specific policies and recommendations for the use of the product in the population based on the overall priority recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccination population issued in September 2020.
WHO also said that Pfizer/Germany biotech vaccines need to be stored at low temperatures of minus 60 to minus 90 degrees Celsius. This demanding requirement makes it more challenging to deploy vaccines in environments where they are not available or can’t be reliably used for ultra-low temperature storage equipment.
To this end, WHO is working to support countries in assessing their implementation plans and preparing them to use them where possible.
On December 11, 2020, the U.S. Drug Administration approved the emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and the German company Biotechnology Company.
This is the first coronavirus vaccine approved for emergency use in the United States and is allowed for use in people aged 16 and above.
