WHO approves Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, poorer countries get early access

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday cleared Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. The clearance to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine from the WHO means early access of the shots to poorer countries. The distribution of Pfizer vaccine has already started in Europe and North America.

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine has become the first vaccine to receive WHO validation for emergency use. This means the poorer countries may get access to the shots soon.

Every country that has a drug regulatory agency will have to issue its own approval for any coronavirus vaccine, but countries with weak health care systems usually rely on WHO to vet the shots.

The WHO said the decision to issue its first emergency use validation for a coronavirus vaccine “opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine.”

It also said its review found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has already received clearance in the United States, Britain, the European Union and a dozen other countries, “met the must-have criteria for safety and efficacy set out by WHO”.

BioNTech-Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine’s requirement to be stored at ultra-frozen temperatures is a big hurdle for developing countries where the required freezers and reliable electricity supply may not be available.

The coronavirus vaccine by Pfizer, which is based on a novel technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below.

Rural areas in India and many poorer countries are likely to have a hard time in Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine distribution. Plus, many hospitals in big cities also do not have the facilities to store vaccines at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below.

“This requirement makes the vaccine more challenging to deploy in settings where ultra-cold chain equipment may not be available or reliably accessible,” WHO said, adding that it was “working to support countries in assessing their delivery plans and preparing for use where possible”.

In India, PM Narendra Modi had held a meeting with chief ministers of all the states and Union Territories to review the coronavirus situation and asked them to start working on cold storage facilities for the coronavirus vaccine.