//FDA advisers recommend the first Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the US

FDA advisers recommend the first Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the US

The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has been recommended for an emergency use authorization by the FDA’s vaccine advisors. | Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

The first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine could ship as soon as December 11.

An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration has voted 17 to 4, with 1 abstention, to recommend emergency use authorization to the first vaccine for Covid-19 in the United States.

The highly anticipated vote means health workers facing high exposure to the disease and residents of long-term care facilities could start receiving the first doses of the two-dose vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, within days. The first 6.4 million doses could be ready to ship as soon as Friday.

The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee held the vote Thursday after an all-day public meeting to