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.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency, which licenses drugs in the
U.K., recommended the vaccine could be used
after it reviewed the results of clinical trials that
showed the vaccine was 95% effective overall