The U.S. Approves a Vaccine

<p>The Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on Friday, clearing the way for millions of highly vulnerable people to begin receiving the vaccine within days.</p><p>The authorization is a historic turning point in a pandemic that has taken more than 290,000 lives in the United States. With the decision, the United States becomes the sixth country — in addition to Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico — to clear the vaccine. Today, we ask the science and health reporter Donald G. McNeil Jr. what might happen next.</p><p><br /></p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/donald-g-mcneil-jr?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank"><strong>Donald G. McNeil Jr.</strong></a>, a science and health reporter for The New York Times.</p><p><br /></p><p>For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline" target="_blank">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. You can read the latest edition <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/column/the-daily-newsletter" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>Pfizer has a deal with the U.S. government to supply<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/health/pfizer-vaccine-authorized.html?type=styln-key-updates&index=0&module=hub_keyUpdates&region=hub&action=click&pgtype=legacyCollection" target="_blank"> 100 million doses of the vaccine</a> by next March. Under that agreement, the shots will be free to the public.</li><li>The vaccines are on their way, but experts still say a difficult winter of<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/health/coronavirus-vaccines-treatments.html" target="_blank"> coronavirus infection and death</a> lies ahead.</li></ul><p><br /></p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank">nytimes.com/thedaily </a></p>