The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Pfizer’s two-dose Covid-19 vaccine. According to the BBC, the Pfizer vaccine is the first coronavirus jab to be licensed in the United States.

The vaccine had originally been given so called ‘emergency use’ authorisation. Both the Pfizer shots have now been fully approved for those aged 16 and above. However, for children aged 12 to 15, authorisation is limited to emergency use only.

Americans are reportedly vaccine hesitant, but the BBC reports that following approval by the FDA, employers and others are expected to make getting vaccinated mandatory.

Meanwhile, the FDA has released a statement saying that its review for approval included data from roughly 44 000 people, and that the vaccine, which will now be marketed as Comirnaty , was supposedly 91% effective in preventing Covid disease.

The vaccines are administered to Americans for free.

Umm Muhammed Umar