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The World Health Organization has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, which means poorer countries will soon have access to the jab already available in Europe and North America.
Each country that has a drug regulatory agency will have to issue its own approval for any Covid-19 vaccine, but countries with weak systems generally rely on the WHO to review vaccines.
The world body said late Thursday that the decision to issue its first emergency use validation for a Covid-19 vaccine “opens the door for countries to accelerate their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine.”
The UN health agency said its review found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has already received authorization in the United States, Britain, the European Union and a dozen other countries, “met essential criteria for safety and efficacy established by WHO ”.
BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine must be stored at ultra-low temperatures, a major hurdle for developing countries where the necessary freezers and reliable power supply may not be available.
“This requirement makes the vaccine more difficult to implement in settings where ultra-cold chain equipment may not be available or reliably accessible,” WHO said, adding that it was “working to help countries to evaluate their delivery plans and prepare for use where possible. “
