Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar had some good news regarding the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday morning.
“Just a little bit ago, the [Food and Drug Administration] informed Pfizer that they do intend to proceed towards an authorization for their vaccines,” the HHS chief told “Good Morning America” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
He said his department will discuss the next steps with the pharmaceutical company within the next several days.
“We will work with Pfizer to get that shipped out,” Azar said. “And so we could be seeing people getting vaccinated Monday, Tuesday of next week.”
The new development comes after the FDA’s advisory board endorsed the vaccine on Thursday, clearing a path for the agency to finally approve it. Elderly Americans and health care workers will be the first to get vaccinated.
Earlier in the week, Azar reported that the vaccine will be available to all adults by mid-2021 and that he expects a “return to normalcy” in the next year.
Watch Azar below:
NEW: HHS Azar says FDA will proceed with emergency use authorization for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine and vaccinations could come as soon as Monday or Tuesday of next week. https://t.co/v1dsjMAvCK pic.twitter.com/48CGRJRTVs
— Good Morning America (@GMA) December 11, 2020
