The Food and Drug Administration has fully authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for U.S. residents aged 16 and over, making it the first COVID vaccine to be fully approved by the FDA. In response, Doctors Without Borders called on Pfizer and BioNTech to immediately share the vaccine technology with manufacturers in Africa, where less than 2% of the population is fully vaccinated. The medical humanitarian group is also urging the United States to demand the companies share information about the vaccines, which were created with significant public funding.
Pfizer has said it expects global sales of the vaccine to reach $26 billion this year. One study estimates it would take just $127 million for an existing manufacturing site to set up production and make 100 million doses. Doctors Without Borders say there are sites in Africa, including in Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia, that could make 100 million doses annually within a 10-month time frame, but only if Pfizer shares the technology.
the full approval just means the FDA considers this a safe and effective vaccine. Unfortunately, this doesn’t have direct consequences for global access. Perhaps even to the contrary, it might mean that supplies will be further restricted and we’ll see the continuing gap between vaccinations in high- and upper
— source democracynow.org | Aug 24, 2021