POLITICO: FDA authorizes first Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use
“The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for use in the United States, clearing the way for the biggest and most urgent immunization program in the nation’s history. The arrival of the nation’s first coronavirus shot comes amid a deepening outbreak, with the country repeatedly smashing records for new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in recent weeks. Nearly 295,000 Americans have died and 15.8 million have been infected…” (Morello, 12/11).

POLITICO: Biden starts countering Trump’s messaging on vaccine
“President-elect Joe Biden’s team is feverishly working to get a messaging plan in place to sell a skeptical public on the first FDA-backed coronavirus vaccine, believing the Trump administration has set the effort back significantly. Biden implied on Friday that he’s not going to wait until he takes office to start counteracting Trump’s mixed messaging on the vaccine, which includes downplaying the public health threat of the coronavirus while hailing the unprecedented speed at which a shot was developed…” (Roubein/Goldberg, 12/12).

Washington Post: FDA authorizes the first coronavirus vaccine, a rare moment of hope in the deadly pandemic
“…The historic authorization of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech for people age 16 and older, just 336 days after the genetic blueprint of a novel coronavirus was shared online by Chinese scientists, sets in motion a highly choreographed and complex distribution process aimed at speeding vaccines throughout the United States to curb the pandemic…” (McGinley et al., 12/12).

AP: Trump says he’s nixing plan for early vaccine at White House (Miller, 12/14).

Bloomberg: Hospitals Await First Shipments of Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine (LaVito, 12/13).

The Hill: CDC director accepts advisory panel’s recommendation, clearing the way for vaccinations to begin (Budryk, 12/13).

POLITICO: Trump rejects plan for early vaccination at White House (Cohen, 12/14).

POLITICO: U.S. government buys another 100 million doses of Moderna vaccine (Owermohle, 12/11).

Reuters: First U.S. shots in COVID-19 vaccine campaign coming Monday, Army general says (Erman et al., 12/12).

STAT: FDA grants historic authorization to a Covid-19 vaccine, setting stage for rollout (Branswell/Florko, 12/11).