I am pleased to announce that late yesterday the FDA authorized for emergency use the Pfizer

BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

This is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized in the United States.

That's FDA Commissioner Dr. Steven Hahn on Saturday morning.

And with this authorization, we know that our federal partners are already moving to distribute

the first doses of the vaccine throughout the country.

Years later, an advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

voted to recommend the vaccine for you some people 16 and older.

CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield then accepted the recommendation.

That made it official.

Americans could start getting vaccinated.

So today, I'm going to update you on the final hurdles cleared by the U.S.' first COVID-19

vaccine.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent.

And this is coronavirus, fact versus fiction.

The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for emergency use.

Not fully approved.

Getting full approval usually takes much longer, but that doesn't mean the vaccine isn't

safe.

Here's FDA Commissioner Dr. Hahn again.

I know the meticulousness of the review that the FDA has done.

I will absolutely take this COVID-19 vaccine, pending availability and distribution, because

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