FDA Approves Pfizer Vaccine After White House Ultimatum

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The Food and Drug Administration on Friday gave emergency authorization to the Pfizer-and-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine amid reported pressure from the White House, according to multiple press reports.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) rose 0.2% in aftermarket hours and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) was up 0.1%.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Friday told Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the FDA to approve the vaccine by Friday, or hand in his resignation, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources.

Health and Human Services Chief Alex Azar earlier Friday said he expected the vaccine to be available in the U.S. by Monday. The authorization paves the way for the vaccine to be rolled out quickly.

Earlier on Friday, Trump had called on Hahn to get the vaccine out, and accused the FDA commissioner of “playing games.”