Emergency Use Listing Issued for a COVID-19 Vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine was issued Emergency Use Listing (EUL) on December 31, 2020. This classification makes the Pfizer - BioNTech experimental mRNA vaccine the first to receive emergency validation from the WHO.

Comirnaty is a nucleoside-modified RNA formulated in lipid nanoparticles and encodes an optimized SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike protein antigen. And, the vaccine does not contain the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus itself and cannot cause COVID-19.

The WHO’s EUL opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the Comirnaty vaccine. It also enables UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries, stated the WHO.

“This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines. But I want to emphasize the need for an even greater global effort to achieve enough vaccine supply to meet the needs of priority populations everywhere,” said Dr. Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, in a press statement.

Previously, the U.S. FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the Comirnaty vaccine on December 11, 2020. Furthermore, it is being distributed throughout the USA.