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First COVID-19 Vaccines approved for emergency use in USA and Europe

DISCOVERIES (ISSN 2359-7232), 2021, January-March issue

CITATION: 

Fortner A, Schumacher DFirst COVID-19 Vaccines Receiving the US FDA and EMA Emergency Use Authorization. Discoveries 2021, 9(1): e122. DOI: 10.15190/d.2021.1


Submitted: January 15, 2021; Revised: February 25, 2021; Accepted: February 25, 2021; Published: March 05, 2021; 

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First COVID-19 Vaccines Receiving the US FDA and EMA Emergency Use Authorization

Andra Fortner (1,*), David Schumacher (2,*)

(1) Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany

(2) Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Germany


*Corresponding authors: Andra Fortner, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 153, 79110 Freiburg, Germany, Email: af415@mars.uni-freiburg.de; David Schumacher, Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Germany, Email: dschumacher@ukaachen.de

Abstract

On December 31, 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported an increase in the incidence of pneumonia from an unknown cause. Shortly after, SARS-CoV-2 was identified as the responsible coronavirus for the heavy progress of the disease, which can manifest itself distinctively in different individuals. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) triggered a pandemic because of its high contagiousness before COVID-19 associated symptoms actually appear. In response to the rapid and continuous spread of the virus around the globe governments have mobilized their forces to restrict contact and thus avoid further infection and invested significant resources in treatment and prevention strategies to tackle COVID-19. As a result, US FDA and EMA have granted emergency use authorization for two mRNA-based vaccines, namely the vaccines developed by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna, for use in the USA and Europe. Due to the existing critical situation, the stages of vaccine development and testing have probably never been gone through so fast as at present. Here, we are briefly commenting on these two vaccines with their benefits, advantages and limitations.

Access full text of the manuscript here: 

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