A report has shown that the pharmaceutical giant in the US Pfizer has started manufacturing hundreds of thousands of doses of COVID19 vaccine without safety approval. The safety approval of the vaccine is due next month. The officials of the company have said that they are going to apply for emergency use authorization of the vaccine in late November, which is roughly two weeks after the US presidential election. A video showing a manufacturing plant in Belgium with thousands of doses of the vaccine panning out of the production line has surfaced recently. Earlier the company has said that it will go ahead with the vaccine after safety data is accessible in the third week of November. As per the Pfizer officials, the company plans to make 100 million doses available this year. Later, they will go ahead and make 1 to 3 billion doses in 2021. Experts have said that each participant will get two shots of the vaccine.
Pfizer the UK head, Ben Osborn has said that he feels a sense of achievement by seeing their hard work pays off so well. The US government is supposed to pay nearly $2 billion for the delivery of 100 million doses of COVID19 vaccine in December. According to the agreement, the US can buy another 500 million doses of the vaccine. This agreement is an integral part of the Operation Wrap Speed Vaccine Program. Several other vaccines as well are being developed under this program. This program plans to manufacture 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines by early next year. The government is planning to buy the vaccines developed under this program before the safety approval so that the vaccines can be distributed on time after the approval from the FDA for emergency use.
Pfizer officials believe that the US government can have two vaccines ready by the end of this year, as a biotech firm called Moderna as well as planning to seek authorization for its vaccine by 25 November. However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked vaccine developers to monitor the vaccine for two months to ensure safety and efficacy after the second dose is given to the volunteers. The agency has clearly said that vaccines need to prove their efficacy and safety before use. The officials have said that Pfizer needs to explain whether they are capable of large-scale production. Pfizer and Moderna both have been funded by the government. Both the firms have started the production of the vaccine.
