Pfizer's first coronavirus vaccine doses to arrive in UK in 'coming days'

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Amid breaking news early Wednesday of the U.K. granting emergency approval to Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, both companies are geared to deliver doses immediately.

Pfizer said the first doses could arrive in the U.K. within days, per a company statement.

“Now that the vaccine is authorized in the U.K., the companies will take immediate action to begin the delivery of vaccine doses. The first doses are expected to arrive in the U.K. in the coming days, with complete delivery fulfillment expected in 2021,” reads the statement.

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Pfizer said a staged distribution plan will deliver 40 million doses to the U.K. through 2020 and 2021. Earlier reports indicated 10 million doses could be ready by end of the year, though according to the Wall Street Journal, the country may only get around five million doses in 2020.

Fox News has reached out to Pfizer for comment.

Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine requires a two-dose jab, and, like Moderna, operates on a new messenger RNA (mRNA) platform. 

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Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is scheduled to meet on Dec. 10 regarding Pfizer’s application for emergency use authorization (EUA) of its coronavirus vaccine, three weeks after the company filed for it. The FDA plans to meet on Dec. 17 to discuss Moderna's EUA. Critics have questioned the delay in scheduling, including Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marty Makary, who said the agency is being “too bureaucratic.”

The U.K. ranks seventh worldwide in coronavirus infections, topping 1.6 million reported cases, and at least 59,000 related deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Fox News’ Alexandria Hein contributed to this report.

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