Saudi Arabia Approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, 4th Country to Give Nod After UK, Bahrain and Canada

Riyadh, December 10: Saudi Arabia has given its approval for using the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the country, becoming the fourth country in the world to do so. According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Saudi Arabia's Food and Drug Authority on Thursday announced that it has approved the registration of BNT162b2, a vaccine against coronavirus developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech. Margaret 'Maggie' Keenan, 90-Year-Old, Receives First Shot of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine in UK; Watch Video.

"The decision to approve the registration of the vaccine and to allow its use came based on the data provided by the company, Pfizer, on November 24," SPA said.  "The authority held several meetings to study the data provided by the company, which included meetings with local and international experts and scientists, in addition to meeting with the manufacturer and its representatives to answer inquiries submitted by the authority," it added. Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Provides Immunity Within 10 Days of First Shot: US FDA.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health will announce the date from when the import of Pfizer's vaccine will start. The Food and Drug Authority will analyze samples from each imported shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine before using it in the Kingdom. Saudi is the fourth country in the world to give approval to Pfizer's vaccine.

The first approval for the mRNA-based vaccine came from the United Kingdom last week. Britain was followed by Bahrain, which also granted regulatory approval to the vaccine candidate. Yesterday, Canada its approval for using the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 10, 2020 06:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).