An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration is meeting today to consider the emergency use authorization request from Pfizer and BioNTech for their Covid-19 vaccine. | Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Should the FDA have moved even faster on vaccine approval?

The United States is on the verge of granting emergency approval to its first vaccine for Covid-19, in what will be the culmination of the fastest vaccine development effort in history. But with 3,000 Americans dying a day (as of December 9) from the disease, the wait has been nonetheless agonizing.

The Food and Drug Administration is meeting Thursday to consider the emergency use authorization (EUA) request from Pfizer and BioNTech for their mRNA vaccine for people aged 16 and older. The two companies have reported that their vaccine candidate is 95 percent effective at preventing disease, with no serious safety