MAJOR MILESTONE

Pfizer Asks Permission Friday to Start Rolling Out Its Coronavirus Vaccine

It’s not known how long the FDA will take to make its decision, but Pfizer said the filing could allow for distribution to begin by the middle of next month.

Pfizer asked U.S. health regulators on Friday for approval to use its COVID-19 vaccine on millions of Americans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The milestone means that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will decide whether the two-shot vaccine is safe enough to roll out to the general public. It’s not known how long the agency will take to make its decision, but it’s expected to move quickly and Pfizer said the filing could allow for distribution to begin by the middle to end of December. The roll-out can’t come quick enough—the United States reported a new record-breaking high of 187,833 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.