WASHINGTON: The United States Food and Drug Administration said on Friday (Dec 11) it was working rapidly to finalise and issue an emergency use authorsation for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

A panel of outside advisers to the FDA on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to endorse emergency use of the vaccine, paving the way for the agency to authorise the shot for a country that has lost more than 285,000 lives to COVID-19.