WHO issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31 listed the Comirnaty COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for emergency use, making the Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)/BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX) vaccine, previously dubbed BNT162b2, the first to receive emergency validation from the WHO since the outbreak began a year ago.

The WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine. It also enables UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries in need.

This vaccine was first approved for emergency use by the UK regulator on December 1 and a week later by the US Food and Drug Administration, with a number of others, including the European Medicines Agency, following as the month progressed.